


Two Jokers In Every Deck

by fearjunkie



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Canon Continuation, Gen, Multi, Other, Unofficial Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-02-12 13:47:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12960639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fearjunkie/pseuds/fearjunkie
Summary: Only a couple months after Akira leaves town, the Metaverse returns and finds the Phantom Thieves without their Wild Card. Akira gives his power to a new thief, but this replacement may leave much to be desired...





	1. Chapter 1

_For a solitary animal egoism is a virtue that tends to preserve and improve the species: in any community it becomes a destructive vice._ \- Erwin Schrodinger

 

It was the middle of the night in early April when Akira Kurusu was brought back to the Velvet Room. He looked up from the opened prison cell in confusion to see Lavenza and Igor outside, looking at him expectantly.

“What's going on?” asked Akira. “Why am I here again?” Lavenza gave Akira a grim look. “Something is causing the cognitive world to return.” she said.

“ _What_?!” shouted Akira. “But we destroyed the Grail! We annihilated Yaldabaoth! The Metaverse doesn't exist without those two!”

“Something has stepped in to take the false god's place,” said Igor, his fingers steepled. “The world does not care for power vacuums or imbalances, and will try one way or another to fill the void left when a great power is removed from the playing field.”

“So what, something decided to step up to the plate now that Yaldabaoth's dead?” asked Akira. “A simplification, but not inaccurate.” answered Igor. “Which is why I summoned you here- I am aware that you are no longer living amongst your allies and cannot go to their aid, so I offer you a way to help them- however, I can only do it with your approval..”

“What would that be?” asked Akira.

“In lieu of your presence, I can temporarily transfer the power of the Wild Card to another individual, who will be guided by fate to seek out your allies and take the position you once had. For one year, you will be deputizing a new Trickster to take your place...”

Akira bit his lip, deep in thought. He wasn't sure if giving the Wild Card away to some random individual in Tokyo was a smart idea, but if the Metaverse was really coming back...who could tell what kind of havoc it's new master would wreak.

“Who gets the Wild Card?” asked Akira. Igor spread his hands wide. “That is not for us to decide...fate will ultimately seek a candidate out and bestow the gift of the Wild Card upon them.”

Akira took a deep breath. It was a shot in the dark, but in a situation like this, a shot needed to be taken.

“Alright, let's do this.” Akira said, bracing himself for the worst- he was expecting Lavenza to jam her hand through his chest and rip some sort of essence out of him, or for a mind-shattering agony like when he awoke to Arsene in Kamoshida's Palace. Instead, a blue light emerged from his chest and floated towards Igor. The master of the Velvet Room gently took the orb of light and tossed it into the air, and it vanished without so much as a trace.

“That was...not what I was expecting.” said Akira.

 

“Life seldom meets expectations.” Igor said with a grin. “Now, your part of the process is done. We must prepare to welcome our new Trickster...”

“Alright,” said Akira. He was about to walk back to the prison-style bed when he stopped to look towards Lavenza. “Hey, wish the new guy luck for me...he's probably going to need it.” Lavenza nodded. “I will remember to do that.” she said plainly.

Akira laid down on the prison-style bed and when he woke back up in his bed in the real world, the first thing he did was to send a message in a group chat that he hadn't needed to use in a long time:

_Metaverse is coming back, sending a new guy to fill in for me. Be ready._

 

TWELVE HOURS EARLIER

 

Through the streets of Shibuya walked a young man, about 17 years old and walking around like he owned the place- five foot seven and lean, slicked back dark-brown hair with a faint widow's peak, pencil-thin eyebrows and hazel eyes that had a look of intent to them. All the while, he was thinking to himself: who can I make a mark out of right now?

This young man was Noritaka Asano, and he was strapped for cash and desperate to make a quick buck. Things had been tough since his father left the picture, and while his foster parent meant well, they had a hard time making ends meet- which meant Noritaka had to fend for his own needs and take some burden off his foster parent's shoulders, even if it meant resorting to less-than-legal means.

Noritaka had picked up the art of the con when he was young, becoming an incredible liar as he grew into adolescence. He knew how to dupe, manipulate, and hustle people out of their hard earned money, and he got good at it- better than a kid his age had any right to be. “ _I am in charge of the situation_ ,” thought Noritaka as he scanned the walkways for a potential mark. “ _If I'm not the smartest one in the room, I need to find a different room_.”

Out the corner of his eye he spotted an American tourist taking photos of the hustle and bustle of downtown Tokyo, walking in Noritaka's direction. Noritaka grinned- tourists were the easiest marks. He waited until the tourist was almost directly behind him before he 'accidentally' dropped his wallet. Like Noritaka had hoped, the tourist picked the wallet up and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Excuse me,” said the tourist, his grasp on Japanese tenuous and heavily accented. “You dropped this.”

“Oh, thank you!” Noritaka with a beaming smile. He casually flipped it open and pretended to check its contents. With no effort, his happy grin became the furious face of someone who'd been made the victim of some great injustice. “Hey, wait a minute...” Noritaka said with angry inflection. “There was ten thousand yen in here!” He held out the wallet, the billfold completely devoid of bills. “You thieving son of a bitch!”

The tourist looked horrified, and Noritaka knew he had the guy right where he wanted him. Noritaka pulled out his cell phone and glared at the tourist. “You better gimme back what you stole from me before I count to five or I'm calling the cops!” he shouted.

“B-but I didn't take any-” spluttered the tourist, sweating profusely. “One.” said Noritaka.

“But I really didn't-”

“Two.”

“Just stop-”

**_“Three.”_ **

“Alright, alright! Don't call the cops!” wailed the tourist as he pulled out his own wallet and pulled out ten 1,000 yen bills and handed them to Noritaka. “There, you happy?”

Noritaka stuffed the bills into his wallet and gave the tourist a calm smile. “Much obliged.” he said before slipping away into the crowd before the tourist had the chance to realize he'd been made a sucker.

 _School's gonna start back up soon...I won't have the chance to hustle adults anymore_ , Thought Noritaka. He was going to be in the third year class at Shujin Academy- a school that started off mediocre and only got worse when its star athletics coach got outed as a sexual abuser and the principal just up and died when he had a mental shutdown in the middle of traffic. Frankly, it was nothing short of a miracle that the school hadn't just shut down. He sighed. School meant keeping his nose clean, as the teachers watched the students like hawks, ready to punish them if they so much as put one toe out of line.

Noritaka spent half the money on a pair of shoes- his old ones were worn out and full of holes- and held on to the rest, heading back into the crowd after dumping his old shoes. If they were in better condition, he probably would've donated them, but nobody would've wanted shoes with that many holes in them. He sat on a bench, waiting for another mark to come along when he saw the tourist was down the street talking to a police officer. “Crap...” he muttered to himself.

Noritaka got up and slunk away, checking over his shoulders to make sure the officer wasn't following him. Luckily, Noritaka managed to get to the subway terminal before being spotted.

Life around here's so boring... he thought as the train started to pull out from the station. Aside from grifting people, there's nothing here for me.

Noritaka pulled a pair of earbuds out from his pocket and listened to music, drowning out the outside world...

PRESENT

Igor shuffled the deck of Tarot cards as he awaited the arrival of the new Wild Card. He began searching through the deck when he noticed that a card seemed to be missing. Igor shuffled through the deck again, and noticed that the Fool was missing. “How strange...” he said. Never in all his years as a master of the Velvet Room had a card go missing from his deck. Igor shuffled one last time and a card came unstuck from another. In between an inverted Devil and an upright Moon was the missing card- but it wasn't the Fool.

The card depicted a blindfolded jester dancing on a riverside, unaware of four animals that are approaching him, seeming intent on killing the defenseless dancer. The card had no number, but in bold, stylized font on the bottom, it read 'LE BOUFFON'.

Igor froze when he saw the new arrival in the deck. A grin slowly spread across his face. “Well, this is an interesting twist...” he said.

“What is it, Master?” asked Lavenza.

“It would seem that fate has played a game with us...” said Igor. “We were expecting a Fool, and we have been dealt a Jester instead. I look forward to seeing where this development will take us.”

The Velvet Room began to shift, changing from the prison-like form it had when Akira Kurusu had been its visitor. “It seems our Jester will be arriving shortly.” said Igor.


	2. Chapter 2

Noritaka had gone to bed, and when he opened his eyes, he was not in his bedroom- he was in what looked to be a Japanese-style courtroom....though no courtroom he'd ever been in was this garishly blue. He was standing in the middle of the courtroom floor, behind a stand where the witnesses would deliver their testimonies. On top of that, his clothes had been replaced with a bright-orange correctional jumpsuit. To his left was the bench and desk where the defense attorney would sit, but to his right, instead of the same set up for the prosecution, there was- much to Noritaka's alarm-a row of execution devices: guillotines, electric chairs, even some heavily reinforced cell doors that seemed to be for solitary confinement. Sitting where a judge would be was a peculiar-looking old man with a long nose, and sitting in the defendant's booth was a young girl with long platinum-blonde hair and yellow eyes, dressed in blue.

  _What the hell is this?_ Thought Noritaka. _I've had weird dreams before but this one takes the cake!_

 The banging of a gavel brings Noritaka's attention to the man sitting in the judge's seat. The man gave Noritaka a grin that would make even the most hardened man feel anxious.

 “Welcome to the Velvet Room, Trickster.” said the man.

 “What the hell's going on here?” said Noritaka, looking increasingly worried. The girl on the defendant's position gave Noritaka a calming smile. “There is no need to be afraid,” she said gently. “You are only here in dreams at this point in time...”

 “I am delighted to make your acquaintance,”said the man presiding over the room. “I am Igor, master of the Velvet Room. You are currently in a place that is situated between dreams and reality, mind and matter. Only those who have made a 'contract' may enter. However, you have been tasked with rooting out a 'corruption' in your world...you are not the first to enter my room, and your time here has come on the heels of your predecessor, but the allies he has made will soon become your allies as well...”

 The girl in blue bowed towards Noritaka. “I am Lavenza, assistant to Igor.”

 This was all getting to be a bit too much for Noritaka's liking. “Wait, what do you mean 'corruption'? Who's this 'predecessor'? Why am I here?” asked Noritaka.

 A bell rang, and Igor chuckled wistfully. “Unfortunately, our time together is being cut short. In time, you will be provided with the answers you seek,” he said. “Until then, we look forward to seeing you again.”

 The lights in the room became brighter and brighter until they were blinding, forcing him to close his eyes. When he opened them back up, he was staring at the ceiling of his bedroom.

 

 

“The hell was that all about?” he asked himself as he got out of bed. He rubbed the crust of sleep from his eyes and stretched. Now wasn't the time for thinking about strange dreams in blue courtrooms- he had to get ready for class. When the morning ritual of changing into his school uniform, showering, and combing back his hair had been completed, he walked out to see the face of his current foster parent, a man named Eizan Nishihara. He was a man of a tall, reedy build with short brown hair that had gone totally gray at the temples. The glasses perched upon his aquiline nose gave him the appearance of a studious, intelligent man- which in no doubt made him appealing as an architect, which was his line of work. He gave Noritaka a smile when he came into the living room.

 

“Good morning, Noritaka-kun.” Eizan said cheerfully. Noritaka winced at the friendliness of it all. It was bad enough he was stuck with another foster parent, but the fact that Eizan was trying to be accommodating was just going to make the inevitable separation more miserable. The way Noritaka saw it, either Eizan would get sick of having him around like all the foster parents that came before him and would send Noritaka back, or Noritaka would turn eighteen and no longer be a ward of the state. Noritaka didn't want to go back. The foster kids in the 'alternative care institution' that took Noritaka in were abandoned and abused in ways that made them prone to sociopathic behavior- the supervisors did little to stop bullying or abuse, and the kids hardened under it until they were completely jaded. Noritaka only managed to get ahead of the rest of them through guile and wit. So Noritaka thought his best course of action was to wait it out until his birthday and not get attached to Eizan.

 “Can you stop calling me that?” asked Noritaka as he grabbed a piece of toast and put jelly on it. “It's making me real uncomfortable.”

 “Oh...okay.” Eizan said, sounding a little sad. “I'm going to be out late tonight for a meeting, can you make yourself dinner?”

 “Yeah.” Noritaka said casually. He was pretty well-experienced with cooking but it would probably be easier to just go out to eat- after all, he still had half of the money that he got from swindling the tourist.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, in a different part of the city, Ryuji Sakamoto awoke to the sound of his phone going crazy with a flurry of notifications. “What the hell?” he muttered through a yawn. He rubbed his eyes and unlocked his phone to see his group chat was a flurry of activity.

 

 **RS** : yo, what's all the hubbub about?

 **YK** : Akira-san texted all of us in the middle of the night and told us that the Metaverse was coming back?

 **RS** : ARE YOU EFFIN' SERIOUS?

 **RS** : we just saved tokyo from getting gobbled up by mementos only 2 months ago, how the eff is the metaverse coming back?

 **MN** : Akira didn't elaborate on the how or why of the situation. However, he did say he was 'sending a new guy to fill in for him'.

 **RS** : what's that mean?

 **FS** : we don't have a clue （；￣д￣）

 **RS** : seriously

 **FS** : ya rly

 **RS** : whatevs.

 **AT** : hey, we should trust akira-san!

 **MN** : Ann is right- we should trust that whoever this 'new guy' is will help us out.

 **RS** : dunno if i'm ok with letting a newbie 'take his place'...srsly, what does that even mean?

 **YK** : I have a theory that Akira-san meant someone with the same abilities he had.

 **RS** : what, you mean the multiple personas?

 **RS** : not sure if this is a good idea- last time we met someone who also had that power, it DID NOT END WELL.

 **AT** : ugh, can we not talk about akechi? Please????

 **MN** : Even if this newcomer uses multiple Personas, I don't feel comfortable giving him the reins should we need to go back to the Metaverse.

 **RS** : yeah...it's hard to replace a guy like Akira.

 **RS** : btw, what's haru's take on all this?

 **AT** : she's open to a newcomer, but she's going to be super busy with juggling the company and college work.

 **RS** : jeez, I forgot she graduated.

 **MN** : Did you forget I graduated, too?

 **RS** : oops

 **MN** : It's alright.

 

 

The group chat eventually broke down into small talk as Ryuji prepared for school.

 

 

AN HOUR LATER

 

 

Ryuji settled into his seat. New year, new homeroom. The teacher, Mr. Takahashi,was prattling on about something, but Ryuji wasn't paying that much attention. However, his attention was piqued when Takahashi stood in the front of the classroom alongside a student with combed-back hair and a widow's peak, who looked entirely disinterested.

 “...And so, this is our new member of the Shujin Academy student body, Noritaka Asano. Please, give him a warm welcome befitting our school.” said Takahashi Whatever response Takahashi was hoping for, he didn't get it. He was met with dead silence.

 “...well,” Takahashi said after an awkward silence. “Hopefully this doesn't give you the wrong impression, Asano-san.” Noritaka gave a nonchalant shrug before taking a seat in the only seat still open- the one directly next to Ryuji. As the teacher began their lecture, Ryuji found his mind wandering.

 “ _...are you fucking kidding me?”_ someone said under their breath. Ryuji tried to find the speaker, but didn't see anyone talking. He was just about to go back into passively daydreaming when he heard the voice again: _“What the fuck? Is this some kind of virus? Why won't this creepy app go away?”_ Ryuji froze in his seat. Did some just get the Metaverse Navigator? No...surely, he was grasping at straws.

 

Meanwhile, at the University of Tokyo, Haru Okumura and Makoto Niijima were finding that college life was off to a rocky start- already, they'd heard rumors of a 'star athlete' attending the class they shared, one who was known to the student body as an insufferable, privileged bastard with a penchant for bullying students and teachers alike. His name was Nichiren Hirose, and he was sheltered by rich parents and members of the university's administration who overlooked Hirose's brutish behavior in favor of his athletic prowess...

 “All the stories about him remind me of Kamoshida...” Makoto said to Haru as they sat down for lunch. “Hopefully, he's more bark than bite.” However, those hopes were quickly dashed when Hirose walked up to their table. Hirose was tall, at least a head higher than Haru and built like a professional athlete. His hair was black and shaved down to a buzz cut, and he big, watery brown eyes. “Mind if I sit with you ladies?” he asked with a lascivious smirk. Makoto suppressed the urge to shudder in disgust. “No, we're fine here.” she said politely but firmly. Hirose harrumphed. “Oh, don't act like that.” he said bitterly. “There's plenty of room to sit here.”

 “I said no.” replied Makoto, her tone much less polite than before. Hirose sneered at Makoto before storming off.

 “Ugh, what a creep...” said Makoto. Her phone buzzed- as did Haru's

 

 

 **RS** : yo, think I know who akira's replacement is.

 **RS** : some new kid named noritaka asano

 **RS** : he kept messing with his phone and mumbling about an app he couldn't delete that creeped him out...sound familiar?

 **YK** : You mean the Metaverse Navigation app?

 **MN** : For some reason, that name seems familiar.

 **FS** : he could have just gotten a virus from a porn site

 **FS** : n-not that i'd know anything about that (⊙﹏⊙✿)

 **RS** : ...i'm not even gonna ask

 **FS** : good

 **HO** : Anyways, I think we already have a candidate for a target.

 **RS** : nice subject change

 **HO** : There's a student at the university who's harassing the girls and intimidating students and teachers named Nichiren Hirose

 **RS** : hirose? I think I've seen his name in the athletic trophy cabinet. He was part of the school baseball team and graduated right before Kamoshida started trying to kill of every sports club that wasn't the volleyball team.

 **RS** : dude got the school some serious trophies...let me guess, he's using his fame to get away with bullshit.

 **MN** : Right.

 **AT** : Seriously, what is up with star athletes being creepy assholes???

 **YK** : I think people like Kamoshida and Hirose are praised so much that they hear nothing of their short comings, making them think they can do no wrong.

 **HO** : I guess that's one way of looking at it.

 **FS** : so what? are we gonna go after this hirose guy or are we following up on ryuji's lead?

 **MN** : I think we should deal with Hirose before he seriously hurts somebody. Let's put a hold on figuring out if Asano is Akira's replacement until then.

 **AT** : sounds good to me. To be honest, I'm kinda nervous about meeting whoever Akira-san's replacement is.

 **YK** : I feel the same way. Akira-san was a great leader.

 **MN** : Who knows if the one he sent can live up to that standard?

 **HO** : I think we should reserve judgment until we actually find the replacement.

 **FS** : im with haru- let's give new guy a shot.

 

Later on in the day, Noritaka was listlessly roaming around- he had no homework that needed to be done, as he had finished it in class. He hated bringing work home- it cut into his free time. But with Eizan out of the house, Noritaka was going to be spending time in an empty house- something he had an overwhelming aversion to. Instead, he elected to kill some time at the batting cages. As he entered the building, a college-age man in a t-shirt that just barely covered up an athletic physique was already standing in line to redeem a Home Run Challenge certificate. The man bumped into Noritaka as he got his ticket for the cages. “Oh. 'Scuse me.” said the man.

“No problem.” said Noritaka. “You look like you play professionally...you sure you're allowed to do the home run challenge?”

The man laughed loudly. “I wish I was playing pro, kid.” he said with a million-watt smile. “Still waitin' on a talent scout to notice me and give me that magic ticket...you play ball?”

“Not really.” said Noritaka. “Though my dad took me to a couple games.”

“Tigers or Giants?” asked the man, referring to the two of the biggest Japanese pro teams: the Hanshin Tigers and the Yomiuri Giants. “Well, my dad was a Chunichi Dragons guy, so he brought me up as such...” admits Noritaka. The man laughed. “Yeah, the Dragons are pretty good, too. What's your name, kid?”

“Noritaka Asano.” said Noritaka. “Nice to meet ya, Nori.” said the man, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen, signing it and handing it to Noritaka. It read 'to Asano-san, from Nichiren Hirose.'

“An autograph,” said Hirose. “Hold onto it, and when I make it big you can say you got my first autograph!” With that, Hirose walked out of the building.

 

“...what a douche.” Noritaka said when Hirose left his sight. He absentmindedly pocketed the autographed paper and stepped up to the front desk. After a few hours spent hitting baseballs, Noritaka stopped at Big Bang Burger for a quick dinner before returning home. He spent the whole night trying to figure out a way to get the weird app called 'Metaverse Navigator' that had installed itself on his phone, and after everything short of a factory reset failed, he gave up. _Probably gonna have to buy a new phone..._ he thought as he laid down in his bed. _What exactly does this app do, anyway?_

Against his better judgment, Noritaka opened the app, and the red eye icon covered his entire screen. “Please enter your search terms.” said a female computerized voice. “...The hell?” responded Noritaka. What was this, some sort of GPS app? Who would program something that most people already had and make it impossible to uninstall? Noritaka closed the app and turned off his phone before pulling up the covers and going to sleep.

The next day found Noritaka trying to keep his mind off the Metaverse Navigator. When lunchtime rolled around, his curiosity won over his frustration and he decided to take his phone up to the rooftop to figure out the app's purpose in private. However, when he got up there, he saw that the blonde kid from his class and that girl who had the modeling gig- Ann Takamaki, was it?- were on the phone with other people. “Alright, so it's settled. We'll meet you at the Hongo Campus building and we can try to figure out this guy's Metaverse location,” said Ann.

Metaverse? Did other people have the app on their phone? Did they know how to use it? The curiosity was driving Noritaka up a wall, and right then and there he decided to follow Ann and Ryuji after school to determine what they knew about the mysterious app.

That afternoon, Noritaka surreptitiously tailed the pair as they took the subway to the Hongo Campus of the University of Tokyo. He hid when he realized the large group of friends they were meeting up with- some orange-haired second year student, a student from Kosei High, and a pair of University girls- one with fluffy, curly auburn hair and the other brown hair in a rather severe bob cut.

“So, what did you guys turn up?” asked Ryuji as Noritaka crept closer, hiding behind a pillar. Noritaka opened up the Metaverse Navigator as he hid out of view behind a pillar.

“So far, we only figured out that Nichiren Hirose has a Palace.” said the one with the bob cut.

“Result found.” chirped Noritaka's phone. He almost dropped it out of shock. Looking at the screen, he saw that 'Nichiren Hirose' was displayed on the app display in green. “We're still not sure about anything else.” continued bob cut. Curls chimed in: “Perhaps the baseball field is the location of his Palace?”

“Nah, too narrow.” said Ryuji. “You said that the higher ups here were ignoring his bad behavior, right? Maybe he thinks he's the big man on campus.”

“Result found.” chirped Noritaka's phone- as well as all the phones of the group. “Huh, whaddya know...his Palace is the campus!” said Ryuji.

“But what does he see the campus as?” asked the orange-haired one. “Baseball field? Sports arena? Gladiator pit?”

“What's with that last one?” asked Ann.

“...I was running out of ideas...” the orange-haired girl admitted shyly.

They seemed to be playing some guessing game about what Hirose viewed the campus as...but why? What would happen when they filled in that piece of information. Closing his eyes, Noritaka reflected on the encounter he had with the man:

 

“ _Still waitin' on a talent scout to notice me and give me that magic ticket...you play ball?”_

 

Magic ticket...what did that mean? Perhaps that referred to those old passes Destinyland used to hand out that let people ride the newest and most popular rides....

On a lark, Noritaka whispered two words into his phone:

 

“Amusement park.”

 

And with those two words, Noritaka's life was irrevocably changed.

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

The first thing Noritaka noticed was the purple haze that briefly covered everything. The world twisted and warped like melting plastic as suddenly he found himself dumped into some other place. All around him were all the trappings of an amusement park- a swinging viking ship, a carousel, booth games, a roller coaster, and a fairy tale castle in the distance.

 

“What the hell?!” blurted Ryuji's voice. “Who said the last term?!”

Noritaka suppressed a terrified yelp as he hid behind a trash can. He peeked out from behind the trash can to see the group of people he was eavesdropping on dressed up like-

No. No, that was impossible...unless....they were the Phantom Thieves that took Tokyo by storm last year.

 

“Wasn't me!” said the orange-haired one, now clad in an outfit that looked like it had been pulled straight out of TRON. “It wasn't me, either.” said the Josei High student- who was now wearing a white fox mask and had a fox tail sticking out of a high-collared jumpsuit. “Someone must have said it...” muttered bob-cut, all kitted out like some Mad Max side character. “Has someone been eavesdropping on us?”

Ryuji- dressed up in a black biker jacket and a red ascot with a skull mask- stood up on a park bench. “ALRIGHT, YOU BETTER SHOW YOURSELF BEFORE I KICK YOUR ASS!” he bellowed.

Figuring the jig was up, Noritaka stood up, hands held up in surrender. “What's going on?” asked Noritaka. “Why the hell am I in an amusement park? Why the fuck are you the Phantom Thieves?”

“Wait, how do you-” Ryuji looked down at himself. “Wait, what?! He already thinks we're a threat?!”

 

The girl with fluffy hair looked at Noritaka sympathetically. “Are you alright?” she asked. “Who are you?”

“My name's Noritaka Asano,” Noritaka said, feeling like he was on the verge of a panic attack. _No. Never let them see you sweat,_ he thought to himself as he took a deep breath to refocus and steel his nerves. _I am in control of this situation._ “I followed those two because I overheard them talking about some app that installed itself on my phone.” he said as he pointed to Ann and Ryuji.

 

“I _knew_ he got the Metaverse Navigator!” Ryuji shouted triumphantly. “That means he's the replacement for Akira-san!”

 

“...Replacement?” repeated Noritaka, sounding puzzled.

 

The Phantom Thieves all stopped and stared at Noritaka. “Wait, didn't Akira tell you anything?” asked the girl in raider attire.

 

“Who's Akira?” asked Noritaka. All the Phantom Thieves looked shocked at this question.

“You mean he didn't personally send you?” asked the orange-haired girl.

 

“Oh, I am going to have _a long talk_ with him when we're done here.” said the raider girl, and Noritaka felt sorry for whoever this Akira guy was.

 

“What exactly are you doing here?” asked Noritaka. “You guys kept calling it a 'Palace'...I assume you're not talking about the castle over there...”

 

“Palaces are a manifestation of distorted desires that people have,” explained the girl in raider gear. “Basically, when someone starts seeing the world in a way that doesn't line up with reality or gets their perceptions twisted, they create a Palace.”

 

“And you guys...break into these Palaces? I'm guessing that's how you used to 'steal Hearts', right?” asked Noritaka. “Very astute of you,” said the boy in the fox mask. “That is correct.”

 

“And you're trying to steal this guy's heart because...?”

 

“He's been bullying teachers and students, and won't take 'no' for an answer when he hits on someone.” explained Raider Girl. “We're trying to get to the 'Treasure' that's hidden in Hirose's Palace to force a change of heart.”

 

The orange-haired girl stiffened up. “Guys, we got company incoming!” she said nervously. “Heh, no sweat.” said Ryuji. “We'll kick their asses!”

 

“Asano-san, you may want to get behind us...” said the boy in the fox mask.

 

“Huh? Why?” asked Noritaka. His answer came in the form of a trio of security guards wearing strange masks.

 

“HALT! Intruders!” the one in the center shouted. Ryuji grinned. “It's been awhile since we've done this, but damn it feels good to do this again...KNOCK 'EM DEAD, SEITEN TAISEI!”

 

Ryuji ripped off his mask and in a blaze of blue emerged a skeletal pirate with a cannon arm, standing on a pirate ship that was shrunk down so the figure could ride it like a surfboard. Ryuji gawked. “Wait, why is Captain Kidd coming out?!” he asked, confused and anxious.

 

“Prometheus, come out!” yelled the orange-haired girl. A UFO appeared above her. “Necronomicon?! Oh no, don't tell me our Personas have reverted to their original forms! Ugh, this is like in video game sequels when you lose all your weapons from the last game and start all over! I _hate it_ when that happens!”

 

“Doesn't matter,” said the Raider girl, summoning a phantasmal motorcycle. “We can still fight these Shadows with our old Personas!”

 

The guard twitched and spasmed before turning into a collective strange creatures- a collection of pumpkin-headed monsters, armored figures on horseback, imps, and other creatures. Noritaka looked on in awe as these 'Personas' clashed with the monsters. However, it quickly became apparent that the Phantom Thieves were outmatched and losing fast.

 

“Dammit, why's this so difficult?” yelled Ryuji. “Have we really lost our edge?”

 

“It's no good...” panted Ann, looking beat up. “At this rate, they're gonna wipe us out...”

 

Noritaka looked on in shocked silence. He was going to die here- he was sure of it. When these Shadows were done tearing up the Phantom Thieves, he was going to be an easy target.

 

_Well, isn't this a fine mess you've gotten yourself into?_ Said a deep, baritone voice.

 

Noritaka gasped and fell to his knees, clutching his head and screaming in agony. His head felt like someone had taken a pair of power drills to his temples and plunged them through his skull.

 

“ _Oh, don't look so distraught...”_ said the voice, full of bravado and confidence. _“It's hardly befitting a criminal like yourself.”_

 

“I'm...no criminal.” wheezed Noritaka, curled up on the ground as the pain coursed through his body.

 

“ _Don't lie to yourself, boy!”_ roared the voice, and the pain intensified. Noritaka leapt to his feet and clutched at his head.

 

“What's going on?” asked Ann.

 

“I think he's getting a Persona!” said the girl in the TRON outfit.

 

“Well, he better hurry up!” said the Raider girl.

 

Noritaka heard none of the Phantom Thieves' commentary- the pain he was in was all-consuming, like his very mind and soul were on fire. “ _You've spent your whole life dancing on the edge of darkness...why do you hesitate to take the plunge?”_ asked the voice. _“Why not fight fire with fire? There's nothing to hold you back anymore...embrace the life of crime that the world's tried to force you into, and turn it against those that seek to oppress you....”_

 

Noritaka clenched a fist. The voice was right. He'd been a crook for a long time, but he'd been trying to avoid to admit it to himself. He'd made dumb excuses, but at the end of the day, he was already a thief.

 

“ _It's time you and I made a contract....”_

 

A red Venetian-style mask with devil horns appeared on Noritaka's face, and his eyes shone yellow. Noritaka instinctively grabbed the mask and began pulling. It hurt like hell, and felt like he was tearing skin off of his face. “Fine. Let's go...” he said in between pained gasps for air.

 

“ _I am thou, and thou art I...go forth, and baptize yourself in the blood of the wicked!”_

 

“ _ **RrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!”**_ screamed Noritaka as he ripped the mask off his face. Blood trickled down his face as he was engulfed in blue flame that spread down from his face. The flames dissipated around him, revealing his clothing had changed- in place of the school uniform was a red tuxedo with full dress tails, a white undershirt and a black bow tie. His pants and dress shoes were the same shade of red as his tuxedo coat and mask. Noritaka clenched his fists, which were now covered by black leather gloves.

 

Behind him, erupting in a blue light and a flurry of black chains, emerged a figure. The entity behind Noritaka was tall, muscular, intimidating, and seemed to be made of solid darkness. It was clad in what looked like a skintight tactical wetsuit that was such a dark shade of blue it was almost indistinguishable from the solid darkness that wore it. The figure had fingers that ended in long, steel knife blades, giving the hands the appearance of claws. Where the eyes would be were a pair of red flames that formed a spiral that extended outward in a straight line at the spiral's end, with the circular parts of the spirals forming 'eyes' and the lines of flame that jutted out to the sides 'eyebrows'.

 

“ _I am the lord of crime and the master of terror, Diabolik!”_ declared the Persona behind Noritaka. “ _No evil can outmatch me, and all who dare challenge me will be struck down without mercy!”_

 

Noritaka grinned cockily. “So this is a Persona, huh? I guess I can see the appeal.” he said. “Make them suffer, Diabolik!”

 

Diabolik seemed almost delighted as it ripped into a Shadow with its claws. When a Shadow sneaked up behind Diabolik and blasted it from behind with a ball of flame, Diabolik responded in kind with a burst of darkness that consumed the Shadow. Diabolik's presence was all that was necessary to turn the tide of the fight- with one more Persona in their ranks, the Phantom Thieves managed to fight off the Shadows.

 

When all was said and done, Noritaka stood amongst the Phantom Thieves with his mask and his tuxedo, looking like one of them.

 

“What kind of Persona was that?” asked the girl with orange hair. “It seems similar to one of Akira's...”

 

Necronomicon emerged and scanned Diabolik.

 

<DIABOLIK. USES CURSE AND PHYSICAL SKILLS, RESISTANT TO CURSE, WEAK TO BLESS AND FIRE.> said a computerized voice as she sat inside of her Persona's UFO-like body. <ERROR! ABERRANT PERSONA ARCANA DETECTED: ZERO, THE JESTER. POSSIBLE MUTATION OF THE FOOL ARCANA>

 

“Mutation of the Fool...?” repeated the girl. “He must have the same abilities, then. But his Arcana's all weird...”

 

“How are you feeling?” asked Ann.

 

Noritaka grinned. “I feel like freakin' James Bond! This is amazing!”

 

“We should head back.” said the Raider girl. “We weren't ready to take on a Palace with our old Personas.” “Agreed.” said the boy in the fox mask. “Let's get Asano-san out of here.”

 

 

After exiting Hirose's Palace, the Phantom Thieves introduced themselves to Noritaka and gave him the skinny on the Metaverse, Shadows, Palaces, and how to cause changes of heart. They exchanged numbers when Makoto realized where she recognized Noritaka's name from: Sae told her about the son of a convicted con man that a fellow prosecutor put away years ago...a nine year old boy named Noritaka Asano.

 

“Forgive me if this is personal, Asano-san...is your father's name Tadashi Asano?” asked Makoto.

 

Noritaka froze up, and the Phantom Thieves watched as a bitter, forced smile spread across his face. “So, you know about my old man, huh?” he said.

 

“Uh...I'm a little lost,” said Ann. “Who's Tadashi Asano?”

 

“Tadashi Asano was a con artist who swindled ten billion yen out of ten members of the Diet.” said Makoto, crossing her arms.

 

“ _ **Ten billion yen**_?!” repeated Ryuji, staring at Noritaka slack-jawed and bug-eyed. “Dude, what the eff?”

 

“Yeah, that was my dad...” Noritaka said quietly. Makoto and Ryuji gave Noritaka suspicious looks. Haru looked at him sympathetically. Ann, Futaba and Yusuke looked at each other, both of them unsure of what to make of this revelation.

 

“Look, can we stop talking about my dad? Please?” asked Noritaka.

 

“I need to make sure you won't try to deceive us,” Makoto said firmly. “Akira-san wants _you_ to take his position as leader of the Phantom Thieves, but I can't let you give orders if you're going to be dishonest with us.”

 

“Tch, typical.” huffed Noritaka “The minute people find out who my dad is, they start thinking I'm going to rob them blind.”

 

“Do I have your word or not?” insisted Makoto. Noritaka grit his teeth in frustration. “Yeah, you have my word.” he said, sounding insulted that Makoto had to ask.

 

Futaba looked from Makoto to Noritaka and got the sinking feeling that they were _not_ going to get along.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, been waiting until this point to post some notes! I'll start by explaining Noritaka's Persona, Diabolik: Diabolik (pronounced Dee-Ah-Bo-Leek) comes from an Italian pulp comic series that created by Angela and Luciana Giussani in the 1960s, following the activities of the titular master thief, Diabolik. I was originally going to make Noritaka's Persona Fantômas, but it sounded too similar to the 'Phantom' in Phantom Thieves for my liking. Also, I didn't want to have to do that accented 'o' every time I wrote out his name. Diabolik gives a good contrast to Arsene- while Arsene never used violence in his capers, Diabolik was pretty ruthless and wasn't afraid to take someone out if they got in his way.
> 
> In truth, I designed most of Noritaka's aspects as a character to be in contrast with Akira: Akira is a Fool, but Noritaka is a Jester. Akira's pretty noble in his thievery, but Noritaka will be more willing to play dirty. Akira's Phantom Thief disguise is primarily black with a few red and white accents, Noritaka's is almost a complete inversion of colors, being primarily red with black and white accents. Even their Personas have inverted color schemes, with Arsene being primarily red and Diabolik being primarily black. Even Noritaka's name accidentally ended up playing into this: 'Noritaka' is an anagram of 'Not Akira'....though this was a total accident and I almost changed his name when I realized it, thinking it might have been too on-the-nose. =P
> 
> Speaking of Noritaka's name, it's meant to be ironic: Noritaka means 'law and filial piety' or 'respect for the law'. Noritaka's father's name is also meant to be ironic- Tadashi means 'loyal' or 'true'.


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

 **NA: s** o we're doing the amusement park today, right?

 

 

Noritaka stared at the screen intently as he waited for someone to reply. It was the day after he met the Phantom Thieves and he was anxious to get back into the Palace.

 

 **AT:** Yeah. I'll send you a link to where we meet up. Meet us after it closes, we need to discuss some stuff.

 

Ann posted a GPS map link to a place called Cafe LeBlanc.

 

 **NA:**...a coffee shop? really?

 **YK:** Is there something wrong, Asano-san?

 **NA:** not really...I was just expecting you guys to have some super-secret lair like in a cave or a clock tower.

 **AT:** Well sorry to disappoint, your highness. >_>

 **FS:** my dad owns it, so he used to let us hang out there after hours.  

 **FS:** (though a clock tower hideout would be pretty epic)

 **NA: w** ait a minute.

 **NA:** does your dad know about the Phantom Thieves?

 **FS:** yeah...some other people do, to...but we can trust 'em.

 **NA:** ...how many people are we talking?

 **FS:** look, just get your butt over here so we can get you initiated.

 **NA:** 'initiated'? you guys aren't going to all gang up on me and beat the shit outta me, right...?

 **RS:** don't worry, we stopped doing that awhile back.

 **NA:**!!!

 **YK:** He's joking, Asano-san. We just need to get you equipped with weaponry before we return to Hirose's Palace.

 

 

Noritaka waited until the evening before telling Eizan he was heading out for a walk, taking the subway to Yongen-Jaya. Following the map, he came to a cozy little cafe in a small alleyway. He knocked on the door three times before Futaba opened the door and ushered him inside. Waiting for him were the rest of the Phantom Thieves, along with a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a chinstrap goatee wearing a black pinstriped apron.

 

“Is this the new guy you kids were talking about?” asked the man. “Yeah, he's the one that Akira sent in his stead.” said Ann.

 

“Even though he had know idea _who_ he was sending.” muttered Makoto. Noritaka shot Makoto an irritated look before extending a handshake to the man. “My name is Noritaka Asano...you must be Futaba-san's father? It's a pleasure to meet you.” he said.

“Name's Sojiro Sakura.” said the man, shaking Noritaka's hand. “Though these kids just call me 'Boss'.”

“I'll keep that in mind.” said Noritaka, taking a seat with the Phantom Thieves. “So, what did you need to talk to me about?” he asked.

 

“For starters, you need a code name.” said Futaba. “Morgana stressed that it's risky using your real name in someone's Palace-”

 

“Who's Morgana?” asked Noritaka. “A talking cat that me and Akira-san met when the Phantom Thieves got started...this whole group was all his idea.” said Ryuji.

 

Noritaka stared blankly at Ryuji for five seconds before bursting out laughing. “Okay, okay, I get it, mess with the new guy.” Noritaka said when he was finished laughing. “But seriously, stop pulling my leg, guys.”

 

“Ryuji isn't joking, Noritaka-san.” said Yusuke. “That's what Morgana was...granted, he looked more like a mascot character that stood on two legs whenever we went into the Metaverse.”

 

Noritaka look confused before he shook his head. “I summoned a crazy demon thief with my mind last night, I should really stop questioning things.” he said.

 

“Any way, back on topic...” interrupted Futaba. “You need to pick a code name. I'm Oracle, Akira was Joker, Ryuji's Skull, Ann's Panther, Yusuke's Fox, Makoto's Queen, and Haru's Noir.”

Noritaka leaned back in his seat in thought. “Hmmm...”

 

“How about 'Diablo'?” suggested Ryuji. “It goes well with that mask of yours.”

 

“Sounds a bit try-hard, if you ask me.” said Futaba.

 

“Brimstone?” suggested Yusuke. “Too long.” said Makoto.

 

“...'Scarlet'.” said Noritaka. “That's my code name.”

 

“Ain't that a feminine name?” asked Ryuji.

 

“I fail to see how that's a problem.” said Noritaka.

 

“Great, now that we've got that out of the way, we need to get you armed up.” said Makoto. She went upstairs and came back with a sharp-looking knife and a pistol. Noritaka went wide-eyed when he saw the gun. “Holy crap, where'd you get that?” he asked.

 

“It's just a model gun,” said Makoto. “They work like the real thing in the Metaverse, though.”

 

Makoto handed Noritaka the knife, and he took the knife, holding it in an icepick grip with the knife blade pointing down. He gave the blade a few test swings before he put it down. “Now what?” asked Noritaka.

 

“That's it. You ready to go?” asked Futaba. “Hell yeah, I'm ready!” said Noritaka.

 

The Phantom Thieves went up into the attic- Makoto said that it was risky to teleport into a Palace with someone nearby, as it risked taking them along unwillingly. When they emerged inside of the amusement park Palace, they were all dressed up in their thief uniforms. “Alright, let's get a good look at this place.” said Noritaka. “Considering you guys had to save my ass from those Shadows, I wasted your time...”

 

Noritaka looked around the amusement park and took a long look at the booth games. They were mostly pitching games- dunk tanks, knock-the-bottles, target games. “Whole lot of pitching going on around here.” he said.

 

“That makes sense...” said Haru. “Hirose does pride himself in his baseball prowess.”

 

They all stopped when they heard the sound of clattering glasses and cheering. Cautiously, Noritaka and the others poked their heads around a corner to find a version of Hirose dressed up in a batting helmet and a baseball uniform. “Hahahahaha.... _perfect!_ ” laughed Shadow Hirose as he reached in the booth to pick up a prize. He pulled out what looked to be a piece of paper and pocketed it.

 

“What should we do?” whispered Ryuji.

 

“Let's follow him.” Noritaka whispered back. “Maybe he'll lead us to the Treasure.”

 

The Phantom Thieves trailed behind the Shadow, and as they got closer, they had to stop periodically when Shadow Hirose stopped to play a game.

 

“Just what is he playing, anyway?” asked Ann. “Feels weird that a baseball player would stop to mess around with carnival games...”

 

Noritaka stood up when Shadow Hirose left the field of vision and began inspecting the games. They seemed pretty normal.

 

Wait. That was odd.

 

“They're not gaffed.” said Noritaka.

 

“Gaffed? What's that mean?” asked Makoto.

 

“Most carnival games are rigged to be almost impossible to win.” said Noritaka.“Carnies call rigging the games 'gaffing', and they do it so you waste money trying to beat the game. They'll do things like make the bottle toss game harder by making one bottle heavier than the other so it still stands even if you hit it directly. But these games? Not gaffed.”

 

To illustrate, he weakly lobbed a baseball at a pyramid of three bottles. They all toppled like dominoes despite how poorly Noritaka threw it.

 

“If anything, they're _too_ easy to win...” observed Noritaka.

“That's interesting, but it doesn't tell us anything about where the Treasure is.” said Yusuke.

“No, but it tells us a bit about Hirose.” said Futaba. “This Palace is how he views the University, right? Maybe it means he thinks he's got it easy.”

 

“Or he's entitled to success.” added Haru.

 

Noritaka kept rooting around in one of the booths and found a box labeled 'prizes'. He opened it up and found photos of University girls in various stages of undress. “Oh, that's not good...” he muttered.

 

“What's wrong?” asked Makoto.

 

“Hirose may be more of a creep than we thought.” said Noritaka, holding the prize box. “These are his idea of prizes...”

 

“Huh? What are-”

 Makoto froze up when she saw the contents of the box. Her fists clenched and her mouth became a primal snarl. “That disgusting _pig_!” shouted Makoto. “I am going to _beat his ass black and blue_ when I get to him! I'm gonna-”

 Makoto's rant was interrupted by the sound of laughter. Noritaka ran to the row of booths the sound was coming from to see a truly terrible sight- Shadow Hirose was playing a Test-Your-Strength game, but instead of a pad that he was bludgeoning with a mallet, it was a person, bruised and bloodied. They were strapped to a pressure plate and cried out in agony every time Hirose's Shadow hit them with the mallet. Hirose laughed and whooped triumphantly every time he struck the person, as every time he took a swing the puck that shot up from the pressure pad would strike the bell, causing it to ring.

 

 “A pervert and a brute...” remarked Haru. “How vile.”

 “Huh? Who said that?”

 Noritaka like his heart leapt into his throat as Shadow Hirose turned to face the Phantom Thieves. “Well well well...” said the Shadow, leering at them with yellow eyes that glowed malevolently. “Looks like I've got guests! Come, play some games with me! Amusement parks are so much better with friends!”

 

“We ain't your friends, asshat.” Ryuji said coldly. “We're here to take your heart!”

 

“Oh? The Phantom Thieves have returned? For little ol' me?” the Shadow said coyly. It laughed evilly. “You're cute, thinking you can come into _my_ park and tell _me_ what is and isn't going to happen. This university eats out of the palm of my hand! They're so desperate for a superstar that they'll ignore _anything_ I do just to keep me on the team!”

 

“I was right...” said Makoto. “The faculty knows what he's doing and they're letting him get away with it...”

 

“That's _right_!” the Shadow said. He pulled a baseball bat out of thin air and smashed it against the ground menacingly. “I can do _whatever the hell I want here, and nobody can tell me 'noo'!_ ”

 

“Your free ride's over.” said Noritaka, stepping up to face Shadow Hirose. “Now, you're gonna pay for what you've done.”

 

“I haven't done _anything_ wrong!” insisted Shadow Hirose. “It ain't a foul until the umpire calls it! It ain't cheating if you don't get caught!”

 

“Does he seriously think he's innocent until he's caught?” asked Futaba. “Ugh, what an asshole!”

 

“I'm not an asshole, I'm a _winner!"_ countered Shadow Hirose. "And winners deserve whatever they want! To the victor goes the spoils!” 

He pulled a whistle out from under his uniform shirt and blew it. Suddenly, a pair of Shadows wearing security guard outfits emerged, tapping their flashlights against the open palm of their hands like billy clubs. “I want these Phantom Fuckers _outta my park!”_ screamed Shadow Hirose, pointing and Noritaka and the other Phantom Thieves.

 

“Yes, sir!” said the Shadows. Shadow Hirose ran off deeper into the park and out of sight as the guards ran up to attack Noritaka and the rest.

 

“Fox, Queen, Noir, you're with me! Skull, Panther, go follow Hirose!” yelled Noritaka, ripping off his mask to summon Diabolik. The charging Shadows transformed into pumpkin headed monsters and a small, fairy-like creature, and Diabolik set to work blasting them all with darkness, knocking them down one by one.

 

“Please...don't do this...” pleaded one of the fairy-things.

 

“...what's this things angle?” asked Noritaka.

 

“Joker used to 'negotiate' with helpless Shadows.” explained Yusuke. “He was even able to persuade them to give him their power, taking them as a Persona. If Joker really did make you his successor, you should be able to do the same.”

 

“Alright then,” said Noritaka. “What's your life to you?” he asked. “'Cause I've got a mark on the run and you're just slowing me down.”

 

“I'll give you anything...” pleaded the fairy.

 

“Well, then give me your power.” said Noritaka.

 

“Wait! Wait! I think I've remembered something...yeah, I'm no stupid Shadow! I'm from the sea of humanity's souls...My real name...is 'Pixie'! From now on, I'll live inside your heart.”

 

The Pixie transformed into a replica of Noritaka's devil mask and in a sudden flurry of movement, the second mask assimilated itself into Noritaka's mask. Noritaka suddenly had the sensation of some new presence settling in to the depths of his mind- like a new person existed in his head.

 

“Well, that settles it...” said Haru. “Scarlet really _is_ Joker's successor.”

 

Noritaka focused hard on the new presence and suddenly felt Diabolik switch out with Pixie. “Nice...” he said with a grin before ripping off his mask and summoning his new Persona. “Knock 'em dead, Pixie!”

 

Pixie giggled and flitted about. Lightning crackled from her fingertips as she threw a lightning bolt at one of the pumpkin heads. The Shadow didn't stand a chance- it exploded into dark miasma.

 

“Goemon!” cried Yusuke, summoning his Persona. The spectral ninja held out its pipe and stomped the ground with its sandal-clad foot. Ice formed along the ground, creeping rapidly towards the remaining Shadow before it spiked upwards to impale it.

 

“Well done, Fox.” said Noritaka. “Let's see if Skull and Panther have caught up with Hirose's Shadow.”

The four Phantom Thieves ran up to where Ann and Ryuji went. However, Ann and Ryuji were empty handed.

 

“We lost him...” said Ann, sounding defeated.

“Don't blame yourself, Panther.” said Makoto. “It's not over yet.”

“I can't get any trace of him.” said Futaba. “I don't know how he's doing it, but he's hidden himself somewhere in the Palace.”

Noritaka looked up to the Palace's skyline and an idea. “Hey Oracle, would you get a better view of the Palace if we were up high?”

“Up high?” asked Futaba. “Yeah, maybe...what do you have in mind?”

Noritaka pointed to the roller coaster. “That's gotta be the tallest thing in here...if there's any chance of tracking down Hirose, it's up there.” he explained.

“But how are we gonna get all the way up there?” asked Ryuji. Noritaka gave Ryuji.a wide grin. “Elementary, my dear Skull.” said Noritaka. “We get on the ride!”

 

After a long trek from the carnival games to the roller coaster- in which they ambushed several Shadows, and Noritaka gained the Personas Agathion and Bicorn- they reached their destination and were met with disappointment. The ride, while stationed at the ride's entrance, was not functioning.

 

“I don't get it...why's the ride not running?” wondered Makoto. Yusuke fiddled with the controls and frowned.

 

“Perhaps there's no power going into the ride?” proposed Yusuke, placing a hand to his chin in thought.

 

“Then there's no problem.” said Ryuji. “I can just have Captain Kidd unload a bunch of lightning into the ride to make it go!”

 

“That might not be a good idea, Skull.” warned Futaba. “We don't know how much that roller coaster can take. You might end up frying the whole ride.”

 

Ryuji's face fell. “Good point...” he said dejectedly.

 

“Oracle, can you trace the power lines going into the roller coaster?” asked Haru. “Working on that as we speak!” answered Futaba. “Aaaaaand got it! 50 meters to your west!”

 

The Phantom Thieves found the power station and turned it on. Sure enough, the roller coaster hummed to life, the chains that pulled the ride carts up the first slope clanking and rotating in the track.

 

However, as if to make sure nothing was ever easy for them, Shadows in the form of birds began flocking around the roller coaster's track.

 

“I'm guessing we're not keeping our hands and feet in the car at all times?” asked Ryuji.

 

“How are we going to fight them?” asked Makoto. “There's no way I can summon Johanna inside a roller coaster...”

 

“We're probably just going to have to endure it.” said Noritaka. “Everyone, pile in!”

 

The group got into the ride, with Noritaka and Haru up front, Ann and Makoto in the second cart, Futaba taking the third, and Yusuke and Ryuji in the rear.

 

“I hope this ride is over soon...” said Yusuke. “I'm not very fond of roller coasters.” Ryuji laughed. “What's wrong, Fox? Afraid of heights?” he asked.

 

“No...I get nauseous.” answered Yusuke. “Ugh, you better not get sick on me!” scolded Futaba.

 

The ride began, the carts slowly click-clacking up the slope. The Shadows flying around the tracks swooped down, turning into Angels and Pixies as they attacked. Makoto ducked as low into the cart as she could while Ann's Persona defended them, blasting away attackers with bursts of flame. Diabolik and Milady formed a front-line defense, a steady stream of bullets and dark energy shredding any Shadow foolish enough to attack head-on. Captain Kidd and Goemon protected the rear of the ride. However, while Noritaka was focused on the Shadows in front, he'd missed a gaggle of Angels that was approaching from the side. Just as the ride reached the top of the first incline, Angel Shadows grabbed Noritaka by the arms and pulled, trying to drag him out of the ride..

 

“Get off me! Get off me!” shouted Noritaka. Diabolik emerged to fight off the Angels, but a blast of light knocked the master thief away, causing Noritaka a great deal of pain. With a final tug, Noritaka fell out of the cart and began to plummet.

 

Noritaka couldn't help but scream as the ground seemed to rush up to meet him. He was over a hundred feet in the air and falling fast. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the ground before he was splattered across it. However, instead of hitting concrete, something caught him. Noritaka opened his eyes to see Goemon clinging to Captain Kidd's boat with one arm and holding Noritaka up with the other. Noritaka let out a sigh of relief as the boat floated up to meet the roller coaster. Switching to Agathion, Noritaka began picking off the Angels that had swarmed the carts with lightning spells. Goemon placed Noritaka back on the ride as it reached the bottom of the second slope. "Thanks for the save!" Noritaka yelled over the rushing wind. 

 

“I FOUND HIM!” shouted Futaba. “He's hiding in that castle!”

“Ugh, it's always castles with these creeps...” muttered Ann. The Shadows, having failed to stop the Phantom Thieves from locating Hirose, promptly scattered. The ride slowed as it pulled into the docking station. The Phantom Thieves quickly disembarked from the roller coaster, heading for the castle at the center of the park.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

The amusement park's castle loomed over the Phantom Thieves as they approached, preparing to secure the treasure. However, when they entered, Futaba said something concerning:

 

“...The Treasure's not here.” she said.

 

“What? How?” asked Ann. “We know Hirose came in here.”

 

“It doesn't make sense.” said Yusuke. “If the Treasure's not here, then why would Hirose come here?”

 

“Maybe he had something besides the Treasure here.” said Haru.

 

Makoto paced back and forth, a frustrated look on her face. “What would a castle hold besides the Treasure?”

 

“I dunno if we should be thinkin' about this like a castle.” said Ryuji. “I mean, yeah we're in a castle, but the castle's still in an amusement park, so it's still gonna be working on amusement park logic.”

 

“...Skull, that's it!” said Makoto, her eyes going wide with realization. “Don't amusement parks like Tokyo Destinyland have hidden corridors for maintenance crews?”

 

“Yeah, you're right.” said Ann. “I remember reading about some college kids who got busted because they tried to hide in a utility corridor while the park was closing.”

 

“So there has to be some sort of door that will lead us into the corridor.” said Makoto. “Everyone, spread out!”

 

The group scattered, scouring the castle's interior until they found a door camouflaged as part of the wall. However, no matter how hard they tried, the door wouldn't open.

 

“Is it locked?” wondered Ryuji. “If that's the case, we'll just wail on Shadows until one of 'em coughs up the key!”

 

“...It's not locked.” Futaba said as Necronomicon's mechanical tendrils probed at the hidden door. “It's...like it's barred from the other side. We can't get in.”

 

“Seriously?” asked Ann, looking agitated. “We've been doing this for over a year, and we're going to let this jerk stop us because he blocked a door?”

 

“I don't see how we can get to the Treasure room without opening that door.” Yusuke said quietly.

 

Noritaka was deep in thought. If Hirose was blocking them off in their Palace, surely it meant something about his psyche blocking out people. After all, the Palace reflected his cognition-

An idea took form in his mind. “I have an idea.” said Noritaka. “But I'm gonna need a day or two.”

 

“What do you have in mind?” asked Haru. “You'll see.” said Noritaka. “...Assuming it works.”

 

The group left Hirose's Palace and went their separate ways- but Noritaka didn't go home. Instead, he stopped at a convenience store and bought a prepaid cell phone. After going home and activating it, he texted Futaba.

 

**NA:** Hey futaba

**NA:** Need your help pulling this off.

**NA:** How fast can you put together a website?

**FS:** I could make a website in my sleep. Why do you ask? :3

**NA:** Didn't want to tell the others yet because I knew they'd shut me down but I know how to get that door to open.

 

Noritaka gave Futaba a description of what he needed

 

–

 

The next day, Haru and Makoto were studying in the University's library when one of the faculty approached them. “Niijima? Okumura?” he said. Makoto looked up to see that the faculty member's facial expression was a sign that this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation.

 

“I was told by a student you two got into a confrontation with Nichiren Hirose.” said the faculty member. Makoto grimaced. “Yeah. He started hitting on us and I told him to buzz off.” she said calmly.

 

“That's not what I heard.” the faculty member said sternly. “According to Hirose-san, you kicked him, and I quote, 'in between the legs'.”

 

Makoto and Haru were taken aback. “That's absurd!” objected Haru. “Everyone in the cafeteria saw what happened!”

“Hirose's lying!” Makoto said tensely.

“Other students corroborated Hirose's claims.” the faculty member said firmly. Makoto's fists clenched.

_That bastard_...she thought. _Hirose intimidated the students in the cafeteria to go along with his bullshit accusations._

 

“I'm certain you two know that the University doesn't tolerate violence.” said the faculty member. “When we find enough proof that you attacked Hirose, you will be suspended.”

 

“Wait, both of us?” Haru asked, sounding horrified. “Why?”

 

“Since we can't ascertain which one of you two spoiled brats did it, the University is going to play it safe and show both of you the door.” the faculty member said in a caustic tone of voice. “You'd best start saying your goodbyes to your classmates while the investigation wraps up.”

 

With that, the faculty member walked off, leaving Haru scared to the verge of tears and Makoto seething with outrage.

 

“That bastard.” muttered Makoto. “I should have known Hirose would've pulled something like this...what ever Noritaka's doing, he better do it quickly...”

 

Meanwhile, at the University's athletic campus, Nichiren Hirose was just getting wrapped up with practice when he received a phone call. He checked the caller ID to see the name 'Yuki Watanabe' listed. He took the call. “Hirose speaking. What's up?”

 

“Ah! I was hoping you'd pick up!” said an excitable man's voice on the other end of the call. “My name is Yuki Watanabe, I'm calling from BrightStar Sports. We're a talent recruiting agency for up-and-coming athletes. I've heard great things about you from our scouts and I'm calling to ask you if you'd be interested in signing with us. We've got connections to seven of the country's top professional teams.”

 

“For real?” asked Hirose. “Can I get an address or a website?”

 

“We're in the middle of moving offices, but our website is W W W Dot Bright Star Sports Dot J P.” said Watanabe. “Now, when can I speak to you in person?”

 

Hirose smiled, thinking he was finally going to make it big. He could finally leave this stupid university behind and be an all-star athlete.

 

“How about this Friday?” suggested Hirose. “Friday's good.” replied Watanabe. “Since our office is kind of a mess at the moment, how about we meet at the Big Bang Burger in Shibuya for lunch?”

 

“Sounds good to me.” said Hirose. “See you then.” He hung up and checked the website Watanabe mentioned. Sure enough, BrightStar Sports had a website that announced it was moving from Osaka to Tokyo to be 'closer to potential clients'. It looked legitimate.

 

Noritaka, sitting cross legged in his bed, hung up the phone and grinned.

 

And in the castle at the center of Hirose's Palace, a blocked off door opened up...

 

–

 

**MN:** So apparently Hirose's a petty asshole and is trying to get Haru and I expelled.

**AT:** What? How?

**HO:** He claimed that Makoto and I physically assaulted him. Unfortunately, it seems he's intimidated other students to back his claims.

**YK:** How loathsome.

**RS:** aaaargh, that son of a bitch is going down!

**FS:** REVENGE! ٩(╬ʘ益ʘ╬)۶

**AT:** So we're back to deadlines again...this is the part of being a Phantom Thief that I really didn't miss...

**YK:** Time is of the essence. But how will we get to Hirose's Treasure?

**NA:** Don't worry, I got it covered.

**MN:** What did you do?

**NA:** Palaces are representative of a person's mind, right? if they're expecting someone to mess with them, they're gonna keep themselves guarded. but if you can find a chink in their armor, so to speak, you can easily mess with them.

**AT:** I have no idea what you're getting at, Noritaka-san >_>

**NA:** I tricked hirose into letting his guard down. I made a chink in the armor.

**FS:** So that's what the website was for (´⊙ω⊙`)！

**MN:** Website? What website?

**NA:** I created a fake sports talent agency and convinced Hirose that someone wanted to get him to the big leagues. if I'm right, that will get his hopes up and unbar the door in his palace.

**NA:** In essence, I have conned him into giving us access to his heart.

**MN:** Are you serious???

**MN:** I told you to be honest, you asshole! How are we supposed to trust you when your scamming people?

**NA:** I gave you guys my honesty. Targets for the phantom thieves aren't getting that same treatment.

**RS:** noritaka, this sounds really underhanded.

**NA:** Underhanded? are you kidding? we're the phantom _thieves_ , Ryuji.

**AT:** Noritaka kinda has a point.

**MN:** Ann, please tell me you're not taking his side.

**YK:** Let's reserve judgment on Noritaka's methods until we've seen if his plan worked.

 

 

The group convened at Cafe LeBlanc and entered the Palace where they left off. Sure enough, when Noritaka went to push on the hidden door, it swung wide open, revealing a long tunnel with a safe room off to the side. He grinned as they entered the safe room. “See? What did I tell you?” he asked proudly. “If you find a way to get in their heads, their cognitive defenses practically fall apart.”

 

Ryuji gave Noritaka a doubtful look. Makoto looked rather unhappy, despite the results. Futaba and Yusuke were impressed by the outcome Noritaka had created. Ann and Haru were somewhere in the middle as far as their impressions of what Noritaka had done.

 

“What are we waiting for?” asked Noritaka.

 

“I still don't like this...” said Makoto.

 

“But we wouldn't be able to progress if Noritaka-san hadn't tricked Hirose into lowering his guard...” countered Yusuke.

 

“Hey, if he can get us to Hirose's Treasure, I'm fine with him conning the jerkface.” said Futaba.

 

“But we're supposed to be the good guys! Even if we are thieves!” argued Ryuji.

 

Noritaka spread his arms out wide. “People, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!” he said. “We've got a Treasure to steal and an asshole of a mark that needs his heart changed before Queen and Noir get the boot!”

 

“Scarlet's right, now's not the time for arguing about what's wrong and what's right about stealing hearts.” said Yusuke.

 

“Agreed.” said Makoto. “But we're talking about this when we're done securing the infiltration route.”

 

“Alright, ramblers, let's get rambling.” said Noritaka. The Thieves exited the safe room and proceeded down the utility corridors, battling Shadows that took the forms of maintenance workers and security guards. By the time they reached what looked like an exit, Noritaka had acquired Succubus and Berith as Personas and Diabolik had learned every skill he could. The Phantom Thieves opened the door leading out of the utility corridors and found themselves inside of a baseball stadium.

 

“Well, that figures.” said Ann. “But how did we not see this earlier?”

 

“It must have been obstructed by the castle.” guessed Yusuke. However, Noritaka was making a beeline for the home base. Floating above the plate was a iridescent, shimmering orb. “That's where the Treasure manifests, right?” asked Noritaka.

 

“Precisely!” said Haru. “Now, we just need to send the calling card.”

 

“I'll have it ready by tomorrow morning.” said Yusuke. “Noir, Queen, I'm counting on you to deliver it.”

 

“Will do,” said Makoto. “We're going to make that bastard pay for his actions.”

 

Having successfully secured their infiltration route, the Phantom Thieves left the Palace, preparing to make their return with the theft of Hirose's heart.

 

As Noritaka walked home from the cafe, he glimpsed something in a desolate alleyway: a vibrantly blue door that nobody seemed to notice. “...My life keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Noritaka said in defeat as he let curiosity lead him to the mysterious door. He opened the door and stepped through to see an all-too familiar blue courtroom.

 

Igor grinned when Noritaka met his gaze. “Welcome back, Trickster.” he said. “It seems you have made quite an impression upon your new allies.” he said. “Now, it is time to enlighten you on this room's purpose. As you fight the world's corruption, you will require the trust of others to aid you in your mission. Your predecessor found most of the people who are destined to give you the same aid as he did, but there are gaps that you must fill on your own.”

 

“The power of Persona comes from one's heart.” said Lavenza. “In order to grow in power, you must strengthen your heart with bonds built upon trust.”

 

“Trust?” asked Noritaka. “That's all I have to do? Earn people's trust?”

 

Igor chuckled. “It will not be as simple as that. Superficial bonds built upon lies and manipulation will do nothing to help you...you must form genuine bonds with these Confidants.”

 

Noritaka's pulse quickened. He'd never been able to make friends- he learned from an early age that opening up to people only ended in pain.

 

“I'm not a people person, Igor.” said Noritaka, leaning forward on the witness stand. “I grew up in shithole foster home after shithole foster home. Genuineness? That's not what I'm about! I'm a liar, that's how I get ahead in life!”

 

“Then, for your sake and for the world's sake, I hope you learn honestly quickly.” said Igor. “Only with bonds can you take advantage of our services...even bonds with us will give you the strength to go on.”

 

Noritaka felt as if Igor was holding him to some standard, and suddenly time slowed to a halt. In his mind's eye, a card appeared- a blindfolded jester dancing on a riverbank, about to be attacked by four hungry animals.

 

_I am thou, thou art I..._ said a voice in Noritaka's head. _Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall become a flame that burns away corruption. With the birth of the Jester Persona, I have obtained the light of blessing that leads to change and new power..._

 

“What services?” asked Noritaka, changing the topic. Igor smiled.

 

“The Velvet Room exists to hone your power as the Wild Card.” he said. “In order to do that, we must execute your Personas.”

 

Noritaka's eyes went wide when he said that. “E-execute?” he repeated. Igor laughed. “Don't fear, young Trickster. Personas are facets of your existence. You will only be discarding old aspects of your self to have them reborn as new ones. Allow us to demonstrate...”

 

A list appeared before Noritaka, showing his current Personas. Diabolik, Pixie, Agathion, Bicorn, Succubus, and Berith...who to fuse?

 

Noritaka picked Diabolik- who had learned all he could- and Agathion- who was far weaker than his other Personas and not as good of a healer as Pixie. The result would create Kelpie of the Strength Arcana, inheriting Diabolik's Eiha.

 

Diabolik and Agathion appeared in front of the collection of execution devices. Diabolik looked down upon Noritaka and laughed. “Though we may part ways, I shall always be with you,” said the Persona. “We shall meet again...when you reach your fated destination.”

 

Lavenza covered the Personas in heavy cloths as Igor prepared two guillotines. As the Personas were led to the guillotines, Noritaka couldn't help but look away. He didn't look back until the deed was done. Before him was a green spectral horse.

 

“mE KeLPie!” grunted the Persona. “mE be YoUR New mASk!”

 

The creature turned into a Scarlet mask and absorbed itself into Noritaka.

 

“A stronger Persona has been born from the essence of the old.” said Igor. “Gather more masks, bring them here and destroy them so they can be reborn into something stronger. You are quickly learning to fill in your predecessor's shoes, so as a reward, you have earned this.”

 

Suddenly, everything came into a sharp focus Noritaka had never seen. It was as if he was seeing the world more clearly than he ever had. “That is the Third Eye you are experiencing.” said Igor. “A thief's skill, allowing you to open up your sixth sense and find that which tries to hide itself from you...”

 

Already, Noritaka felt the bond between him and Igor growing. Perhaps this is what Igor had been talking about. Noritaka got to work fusing Bicorn and Succubus to create Gurr of the Jester Arcana- a rather ugly half-man half-eagle creature that inherited Succubus's Agi and Bicorns's Garu, and gaining Headbutt from the Jester Confidant. Gurr was resistant to Wind and Curse, but weak to Bless.

 

“Now that you have been given the basic tools, it is time for you to put what you have learned into practice.” said Igor. “Until then, farewell...”

 

Noritaka suddenly found himself back in the alley. He looked back and made sure the door was still there- which it was- and went home.

 

Tomorrow was a big day.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, I know the stuff with Igor and the Velvet Room was awkward, but I forgot the pacing of the first couple of Confidants. It's going to be a bit wonky for the first few chapters, but hopefully I can get a good pace for Confidant growth. As for Noritaka's Confidants, you're going to see mostly familiar faces, but there are a few change ups that exist because either I don't really have any ideas for them or it just wouldn't make sense for Noritaka to hang out with them. For example, Morgana's going to be replaced as the Magician Confidant because Morgana is living with Akira. 
> 
> Also, the Jester is Noritaka's Confidant Arcana with Igor. Don't worry, there's a Fool Confidant coming, and the Aeon Arcana will also be making an appearance at some point in the story.


	6. Chapter 6

Hirose wiped the sweat off his brow as he walked into the locker room. He'd been eagerly practicing ever since he got the call from BrightStar Sports, hoping to burn off the nervous energy he was feeling. As he prepares to change out of his uniform, something flutters out of his locker. Something red.

 

Hirose stoops to pick up the object- a card. On one side was an icon of a top hat and a mask with a flaming eye. On the other was a message that looked like it was made of cut-outs from newspapers.

 

_ SIR NICHIREN HIROSE, THE ABUSIVE SINNER OF ENTITLEMENT. YOU HAVE STRONG ARMED STUDENTS AND USED YOUR TALENTS TO GET AWAY WITH YOUR ABYSMAL BEHAVIOR FOR THE LAST TIME. YOUR BEHAVIOR HAS BEEN SO ATROCIOUS THAT WE, THE PHANTOM THIEVES OF HEART, HAVE DEEMED IT NECESSARY TO RETURN. WE WILL MAKE YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR OWN TONGUE AND TAKE YOUR DISTORTED DESIRES WITHOUT FAIL. _

 

Other baseball players peeked over Hirose's shoulder to see what he was holding.

 

“The Phantom Thieves? I thought they went into hiding!” said one.

 

“Are they actually back?” asked another.

 

Hirose grit his teeth and ripped the calling card into pieces. “This is just some dipshit playing a stupid prank! The Phantom Thieves?! Don't make me laugh!” he ranted as he scattered the card across the floor of the locker room. He stormed out of the room, passing Haru and Makoto without even noticing them.

 

“Looks like he found the calling card...” Haru said with the faintest hint of a smirk.

 

“Gather the team. We're taking him down.” said Makoto.

 

–

 

“You guys ready?” asked Noritaka as they emerged in the safe room in the utility corridor. Ryuji grinned. “Honestly, I've been itchin' to get back to doing this!” he said happily.

 

Noritaka returned the grin. “Phantom Thieves...roll out!”

 

The group strode into the baseball diamond, ready for whatever surprise Hirose's Palace would throw at them.

 

As they approached home plate, the Treasure's form became apparent- a massive trophy made of gold. “Man, this just feels like a repeat of Kamoshida...” remarked Ann. “Here's hoping Hirose goes down just as easy.” said Ryuji. “Remember the stupid paintings Madarame split into?”

 

“Don't remind me.” griped Yusuke.

 

“I thought you guys said his Shadow would be here.” said Noritaka. “Guess he's declared a rainout.” said Ryuji. Noritaka walked up to the home plate and reached out to grab the trophy.

 

 

“ _ **Not so fast!”**_ screamed Hirose from somewhere in the bleachers. There was the sound of a bat hitting a ball before a baseball smashed into Noritaka's face.

 

“Ngh!” grunted Noritaka. The force of the blow knocked the tuxedo-clad thief on to his backside. Hirose's Shadow ran up to the front row seats and jumped the guard rail, landing on his feet behind home plate.

 

“Did you _honestly_ think I'd just let you steal home plate? Or my trophy?” asked Hirose, menacingly pointing a baseball bat at Noritaka. For a second, Haru could have sworn that Noritaka visibly flinched when he saw the bat...must have been her imagination.

 

“I am the big man on campus, and what I say goes!” yelled Hirose. “Not even Phantom Thieves can take that away from me! I _earned_ my stardom!”

 

“Talent doesn't give you a pass to hurt people!” shouted Futaba.

“You think you're God's gift to the world, but you're just another privileged asshole!” said Ann. “You're nothing special!”

 

Hirose picked up a baseball and pitched it as hard as he could at Ann- only for Ryuji to smack it away with his lead pipe. “See? Anyone can hit a ball.” Ryuji said coldly. “You ain't special.”

 

Hirose began laughing evilly. “I'll show you...I'll show you ALL!” howled Hirose's Shadow as he began to warp and contort into monstrous proportions. When the metamorphosis was complete, Hirose's Shadow was a ten foot tall monster of a man with shoulders as wide as he was tall, an overly muscular upper half that was almost bursting out of its baseball uniform, and an almost comically undersized lower half, with legs that shook as they tried to support the weight of the rest of the body. The Shadow gripped a baseball bat wrapped in chains and filled with nails in one hand and the trophy in the other. The batting helmet grew horns.

 

“I'm gonna grand slam all of you _outta the park!”_ howled the Shadow. He snapped his fingers and a fanfare blared through the baseball diamond. Out of nowhere, Shadows dressed like baseball players took to the field, glaring at the Phantom Thieves with murderous intent. “Panther, Queen, Skull, you're gonna take on Hirose with me!” ordered Noritaka. “Everyone else, hold his goons back!”

 

“Got it!” the Phantom Thieves shouted in unison. Captain Kidd, Carmen, and Johanna materialized alongside Gurr. Makoto revved Johanna's engines as nuclear force crackled and exploded underneath the Shadow.

 

“You wanna play like that?!” snarled the Shadow, smacking the baseball bat against the ground. “Fine! I'll show ya what foul play really means!” With that, he picked up a baseball and smacked it at Ryuji.

 

“Whoa!” Ryuji yelped, diving to the side to avoid getting hit. When he got back up, Noritaka grinned. “Juuuussst a bit outside. Tried the corner and missed!” he taunted. The Shadow growled like a wild animal.

 

“You assholes don't know nothin'!” yelled Hirose's Shadow. “I'm already on the way to going pro!”

 

Noritaka's grin grew wider. “Oh, really?” He cleared his throat and spoke in a different tone of voice. “ _Hello, this is Yuki Watanabe calling from BrightStar Sports..._ ”

The Shadow's eyes practically pop out of their sockets. “Y-You?!” it shrieked. _“You're Yuki Watanabe?”_

 

“Nope! Yuki Watanabe from BrightStar Sports doesn't exist!” jeered Noritaka. “If you build it, they will come, and you practically came running the minute you thought someone was going to take you to the major leagues!”

 

The Shadow screamed so loud the whole arena shook. _**“I'LL KILL YOU!”**_ howled Hirose's Shadow. Noritaka laughed. “Aw, cheer up, buddy!” he taunted. “Didn't anyone ever tell you _there's no crying in baseball?_ ”

 

Hirose's Shadow was about to put an end to Noritaka's trash talk when a light from the arena spotlights came crashing down on its head. “What the-?!”

The Shadow looked up to see that Noritaka had been distracting it- while Noritaka was getting under Shadow Hirose's skin, Carmen, Captain Kidd, and Gurr had been loosening lights from up above and chucking them at the Shadow.

 

“That's _enough!”_ yelled Shadow Hirose. He threw a ball at the lights, destroying them. “You're dead! You're all dead!”

 

Yusuke looked away from the fight with the underling Shadows to see something out in the dugouts. “Scarlet! Look!” he shouted. Noritaka glanced over to the dugout to see a pitching machine. “Skull, I need you to grab that and aim it at the Shadow.” whispered Noritaka. “Got it,” replied Ryuji as he ran for the dugout.

 

“I'm going to kill you all...” threatened Hirose's Shadow. He dropped the trophy and gripped the bat with both hands. “He's telegraphing his big attack!” warned Futaba. “You guys know what to do!”

 

The group fighting Hirose braced themselves as Shadow Hirose swung his bat so hard that it sent out a wave of gale-force wind. Noritaka grit his teeth, holding firm in spite of the wind.

 

 

“Strike one.” said Noritaka.

 

“Don't mock me!” screamed Hirose, lunging at the Phantom Thieves and slamming his bat into each of them. Despite that, Noritaka wasn't fazed. As Makoto sent out a healing wave with her Persona, he charged towards Hirose, knife in hand.

 

“Strike two!” yelled Noritaka as he stabbed his knife into Hirose's knee. The Shadow screamed in pain as its leg gave out, causing it to fall face-first to the ground. Hirose swung his bat one more time, trying to trip Noritaka up, but Noritaka switched to Berith to defend against the attack with a Rakukaja. Even as a bruise formed on his cheek, Noritaka smiled. “ _ **Strike three!”**_ exclaimed Noritaka. He jumped out of the way of Ryuji, who was aiming a massive pitching machine that looked more like a mounted turret made to fire baseballs right at the vulnerable Shadow.

 

In unison, Ryuji and Noritaka proclaimed: _**“YOU'RE OUT!”**_

 

Ryuji turned the machine on and a hail of baseballs shot out, pelting the Shadow over and over again with full force. It must have pitched at least a hundred or more balls by the time the Shadow collapsed.

Beaten to the point of collapse, the Shadow shrunk down to its original form. “...uuuugh.” groaned the Shadow as the Phantom Thieves walked up to it, surrounding him and preventing him from running away. Noritaka picked up the trophy. “Alright. It's over. The Treasure is ours now, and you've lost.” said Noritaka. “Now, why don't you be a good little mark and atone for your sins?”

 

“....very well.” said Hirose's Shadow. Just like that, he faded away.

 

Immediately after, an earthquake began to shake the entire ballpark and amusement park. “Shit!” screamed Ryuji. “I forgot this happens!”

 

“What happens?” asked Noritaka.

 

“Palaces collapse once the Treasure is taken!” explained Haru. Noritaka groaned. “You coulda warned me the Palace was going to pull some _Last Crusade_ bullshit!” he said.

 

“Less talking, more running!” said Makoto. As the ballpark began to collapse in on itself, the Phantom Thieves fled for the exit and exited into LeBlanc's attic, panting and exhausted. Noritaka looked down to see that the trophy he was holding had been replaced by an old baseball. “Uh...I think Hirose pulled one over on us.” he said.

 

“That's normal. Treasures usually take a different form in the real world.” said Haru. “Surely, that ball was valuable to Hirose in some form.”

 

Noritaka inspected the ball and found a signature on the ball that belonged to a long retired baseball player that was super-famous in Japan. “Yeah, that explains it.” said Noritaka, showing everyone the signature.

 

Ann was smiling as she looked at the ball. “...Feels like nothing's changed.” she said. “It's good to be a Phantom Thief again.”

 

“I'll admit, I was growing restless.” said Yusuke. “Perhaps, deep down, I missed this.”

 

“We _all_ missed doing this...” Haru said. “Changing people's hearts, making society a better place...that's what the Phantom Thieves were for.”

 

“What they _are_ for.” corrected Makoto. “With the Metaverse returning, it'd be a waste to not go back into action.”

 

“Woot!” cheered Futaba. “The Phantoms Thieves are back online!”

 

Time stood still and Noritaka's vision was suddenly filled with cards- a injured king on a chariot, a bickering pair of lovers, an emperor smoking a pipe, a priestess reading a centerfold, an old hermit with a lantern sticking out its tongue, and an empress with her legs spread and her scepter held as if she was going to beat someone with it.

 

 _What the fuck is going on...?_ thought Noritaka. He wasn't sure if the voice in his head heard him, but it spoke anyway: _I am thou. Thou art I. Thou hast acquired new vows. They will become flames that burn away corruption. With the births of the Chariot, the Lovers, the Emperor, the Priestess, the Hermit, and the Empress Personas, I have obtained lights of blessing that show the way to change and new power._

 

 _Holy crap,_ thought Noritaka. _These are a lot of Confidants...does that mean they trust me now? Are we friends?_

 

“So what now?” asked Noritaka, blinking away the visions of Tarot cards.

 

“Now? We're kinda stuck playing the waiting game.” answered Ann. “Usually it takes a couple days for the change of heart to take hold.”

 

“Well, as long as Hirose can't hurt anyone anymore, I'm fine.” said Noritaka.

 

After a round of celebratory coffees, Noritaka went home to find Eizan home early, cooking dinner. “Hey.” said Noritaka. Eizan looked up from the stove to Noritaka. “Dinner's almost ready,” he said. “Just gotta finish the noodles...”

 

Noritaka hung up his jacket and put his backpack away while he waited for dinner. Eizan dished out two bowls of yakisoba, one for each of them. Noritaka wordlessly took a bowl for himself and was about to abscond to his room as he usually did for dinner when he stopped, recalling Igor's words about trust and friendship. Breaking from a tradition that he'd taken weeks to establish, Noritaka sat down to eat with his foster parent- much to Eizan's delighted surprise.

 


	7. Chapter 7

The day after the Hirose Palace heist, Noritaka got out of bed and found himself wondering where to go from here. He had no clue how long it would take for Hirose's change of heart to take hold, and wasn't sure how to strengthen his bonds with people.

 

As he got dressed for school, he looked at the group chat and realized there was someone that hadn't been active for a while but was still listed: Akira Kurusu.

 

“OK, Mr. Badass Predecessor,” muttered Noritaka. “Let's see if you live up to the hype.”

 

He opened a private chat with Akira and sent one mission:

 

 **NA:** How can I be a better wild card?

 

Noritaka pocketed the phone and wasn't expecting a response for at least a day, but he was surprised when he got a notification during the subway ride to school.

 

 **AK:** Took your sweet time finding me, didn't you?

 **AK:** I'm assuming you met Igor and Lavenza and they gave you the Confidants and Fusions talk, so let me stress that making friends is going to be EXTREMELY important.

 

Noritaka frowned.

 

 **NA:** Yeah, I kinda got that. But Igor said that your confidants and my confidants would have a lot of overlap, so I may need a list of your confidants.

 

 **AK:** Wow

 **AK:** That's...pretty forward of you.

 **AK:** Alright, first things first, are you going to Shujin?

 **NA:** Yep.

 **AK:** OK, good. First, find a student named Yuuki Mishima

 **AK:** He used to run the Phan-Site. Probably still does.

 **AK:** The Phan-Site was how we started getting heist requests. You'll need that back up and running.

 **AK:** After that, see if you can track down a woman named Tae Takemi. If she's not still running that back alley clinic of hers, check hospitals to see if they've hired her since I've been gone.

 **AK:** When you're done with that, go to an airsoft store in Shibuya called Untouchable. Go talk to the owner, Munehisa Iwai. He may look scary, but just tell him I sent you and ask him how Kaoru's doing and you should do just fine.

 **AK:** …

 **AK:** You still there?

 

Noritaka stared blankly at his screen. That was _a lot_ to take in.

 

 **NA:** Yeah, I'm still here, I just....

 **NA:** Wow

 **AK:** Hehehe

 **AK:** Don't worry, it'll get easier once you get used to it.

 **AK:** My Confidants are good people, I'm sure yours will be, too. Tell everyone I mentioned that I said 'hi'!

 **NA:**...will do.

Noritaka pocketed his phone. Akira seemed... _weird_. Yeah, that was one way of putting it.

 

Class was a monotonous slog of history, math and English but as soon as the lunch period began, Noritaka was on his phone, chatting in the P.T. Group Chat

 

 **NA:** Do you guys know where I can find a guy named yuuki mishima?

 **AT:** wowwww I haven't thought about mishima-kun in awhile

 **AT:** kinda feel like an ass now >_<

 **RS:** how'd you know about mishima?

 **NA:** I got in contact with akira. If i'm gonna be his 'substitute', might as well follow in his footsteps.

 **FS:** He's in the AV room a lot.

 **FS:** had to bribe him not to snitch when I figured out how to get past the school's web filter.

 **NA:** Why were you trying to get past the filter

 **NA:** You know what

 **NA:** don't answer that

 **NA:** AV room's on the second floor, right?

 

Noritaka went up to the third floor and quickly found a skinny, dark-haired boy eating lunch in front of a computer despite the sign next to the door explicitly saying 'NO FOOD OR DRINK ALLOWED'. Noritaka stepped up behind the computer monitor and leaned against the desk, propping his head and arms up on top of the monitor.

 

 

“Yuuki Mishima, I presume?” Noritaka said with a wide grin. “Akira says 'hi'.”

 

Mishima gave Noritaka a wide-eyed stare. “Wh-who are you?” he asked. Noritaka gave Mishima a smile more commonly seen on used car salesmen. “Name's Noritaka Asano, ask for me by name, accept no substitutes.” he said quickly. “Saaaay, you still running the Phan-Site?”

 

Mishima's jaw dropped. “What...?”

 

“Well, with Akira out of the picture, I've been sent as a sort of...substitute.” said Noritaka. “With the Phantom Thieves coming back-”

 

“-they're coming back?” interrupted Mishima.

 

“ _We're_ coming back,” Noritaka corrected testily. “We'll need the Phan-Site running to take requests.”

 

Mishima looked overwhelmed. “Geez, I thought it was over after Shido went down.” he said. “I mean, traffic on the site's pretty much slowed to a crawl, but I'll keep an eye on things.”

 

“Excellent,” said Noritaka. “I look forward to it.” He waited for the slowing of time and a card to appear...

 

But nothing happened.

 

 _...Any day now, Voice In My Head_ , thought Noritaka, feeling confused and a little frustrated. What was taking so long for the bond to form?

 

The bell that signaled the end of lunch period rang out and Mishima bolted out of his chair. “Oh crap, I'm gonna be late!” he said as he ran out the door. Noritaka stared wordlessly as the scrawny young man left, leaving him alone in the AV room. _I don't get it,_ thought Noritaka. _Surely, I should have bonded with him._

Noritaka left the room and went back to class.

 

–

When the school day ended, Noritaka double checked the list of people Akira mentioned and headed to Yongen-Jaya. After getting lost for about an hour, he eventually stumbled upon the Takemi Medical Clinic. Despite being in a back alley, it was surprisingly busy- the small waiting room was so full of people Noritaka could barely get in line to speak to the receptionist without tripping over people's feet. When he finally got to the front desk, he finally saw the doctor running the place- a very attractive woman with a black studded choker, a messy bob-cut, and bright red fingernails. _Hot **damn**._ Thought Noritaka. The doctor looked up at him. “May I help you?” she asked. Noritaka nodded. “Yeah, a friend of mine named Akira Kurusu referred me here for...painkillers.” he said. “I get into a lot of accidents, I was hoping you could prescribe something for that...”

 

The doctor's eyes light up at the mention of Akira's name. “A friend of Kurusu-san's, eh?” she asks. “I'm pretty busy at the moment, but come back after hours and we can talk then.”

Noritaka doesn't even get a chance to respond, as he is shoved aside by an impatient patient. With nothing else to do, Noritaka took the subway from Yongen-Jaya to Shibuya. Upon finding the cramped street that Untouchable was on, Noritaka walked in to see a man that he initially mistook for a certain gruff-voiced bald British actor.

 “Can I help ya?” asked the man behind the counter.

 “Yeah...My friend Akira told me you've got good stuff here.” said Noritaka. “Kurusu-san said your airsoft guns in particular were of the highest quality.”

 The man chuckled. “So, Akira sent ya, huh?” he said, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet up on the counter. “Well, sounds like you'll be needing my 'special stock'. I'll get you some merchandise soon.”

 Noritaka waited for the vision of the card to appear, but once again, nothing happened. _What the hell is going on?_ He thought. _I thought that would get a bond established for sure!_

 

Frustrated, Noritaka stormed out of the store, leaving the store owner very confused by the teen's sudden sour change in mood. Noritaka felt bitter as he took the subway back to Yongen-Jaya, figuring that the clinic would be empty of patients by the time he got off the train. He got to the clinic to find the doctor waiting outside.

 “So, I'm assuming you're pursuing the same....” The doctor paused mid-sentence, looking for the right wording. “... _extracurricular activities_ as Kurusu-san?”

“Yes, that's one way of putting it.” said Noritaka. “He told me you were of great help when he was here.”

 

The doctor smiled and for a second Noritaka could have sworn she was blushing. “That's very flattering...I just used him as a guinea pig to test new medications, that's all.” she said. “Painkillers, stimulant patches, salves...”

“You still got those?” asked Noritaka.

“Yeah, but they're gonna cost you.” said the doctor. “I can't fund my research if I'm giving away my product for free.”

 

“That's fair.” said Noritaka. “I'll stop in when I need supplies.”

 

Noritaka waited for the card to appear, but nothing happened. What was he doing wrong? He was making connections with people, why wasn't he getting power from them? Was he unable to make the same connections as Akira? No, Igor would have said so. Noritaka left for home, mulling over his apparent inability to form Confidants.

 

Meanwhile, at the Niijima's apartment, Makoto was also doing some deep thinking. Noritaka rubbed her the wrong way- yes, Akira acted more confident as 'Joker', but Makoto chalked that up to experience. After all, by the time she joined the Phantom Thieves Akira had already changed the hearts of Kamoshida and Madarame. But Noritaka's confidence seemed to come out of nowhere. He went from a confused, terrified trainwreck to a cocky, confident leader in a matter of minutes. It didn't seem natural to her. Out of curiosity, Makoto opened the Metaverse Navigator. “Noritaka Asano.” she said.

“ _Candidate not found.”_ answered the application.

 

The lack of a Palace didn't make her feel any better. However, her concentration was broken when Sae walked in, having come home from work. The look on her older sister's face was all to familiar- burnt out, bitter, and frustrated.

 

“You alright?” asked Makoto. Sae sighed. “No...the new prosecutor's quite...outspoken, to say the least.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” asked Makoto. Sae rubbed her temples in frustration. “They've brought in a prosecutor from Osaka named Genko Shimizu to take my place, and she's proving difficult to work with.” said Sae. “She's wasted no time berating me for my handling the investigation into the Phantom Thieves...”

 

“Seriously?” asked Makoto. “Why would someone still be hung up on that after Shido confessed to everything?”

“According to her, the fact that the Phantom Thieves made him confess makes the confession non-admissible.” said Sae. “By her reasoning, Shido should be acquitted until a formal investigation into his actions is completed.”

 

“That's a load of bull!” Makoto said angrily. “We all know what he did!”

 

“I'm not saying I agree with her.” Sae said quietly. “I'm just saying I'm worried that she has an ax to grind with the Phantom Thieves. I don't know if it's because you affected her personally or if it's just her own sense of what's wrong and what's right that leads her to hate the Phantom Thieves, but either way you and your friends should stay away from anything that can open the Phantom Thief investigation back up.”

 

Makoto went bright red in the face and began to nervously fidgeting with her hands. “Um...” Makoto hummed, not sure how to break the news to Sae. The silver-haired woman's eyes narrowed at Makoto.

 

“What is it, Makoto?” asked Sae. Makoto gulped nervously. “The...The Metaverse came back...and so has the Phantom Thieves.”

“ _ **WHAT?!**_ ”

 

Makoto flinched. “I'm sorry, I didn't know that the investigation was opened back up! We were just trying to figure out why the Metaverse came back, and then a student tried to create fake assault charges against Haru and I! On top of that, Akira-kun sent someone to 'take his place'.”

 

Sae stared at Makoto for a long while before letting out an exasperated breath. “Well, you can't un-ring a bell...” she said. “I need you to tell me everything that happened.”

 

Makoto spent the better part of an hour explaining to her sister how Akira told them out of the blue about the return of the Metaverse, the 'replacement', Hirose, and the events that led to them stealing his heart. When she was done, Sae looked something up on her phone. “Noritaka Asano, you said?” asked Sae.

 

“Yeah...I remember you talking about his dad back when you were still a prosecutor.” said Makoto. Sae frowned, reading something on her phone. “...I would be careful around him.” warned Sae.

“I know, something about him makes me feel uneasy.” said Makoto. Sae shook her head. “No, I mean be careful. I looked up his foster care files. Noritaka has a history of manipulating foster parents and other foster children.”

 

Sae continued reading the file in silence- notes left behind by his case worker indicating patterns of minor sociopathic behavior, records of contempt for authority figures stemming from the arrest and incarceration of his father...Sae's brow furrowed with concern.

 

“I'm going to need to speak to Noritaka.” said Sae.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, as I've been busy editing my novel. This is setting up to show that Noritaka's going to struggle making bonds, and that there's some lingering doubts among the Phantom Thieves about Noritaka.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay and the short chapter, my laptop's literally falling apart and I wanted to get this out there before this laptop became broken beyond repair.

Noritaka woke up to the sound of his phone buzzing.

 

 **AT:** Hey, if the Metaverse is back, is Mementos back too?

 **NA:** Mementos? Isn't that the mint that makes a geyser when you put it in a bottle of pop?

 **HO:** Not quite, Nori-kun, but I can understand why you'd think that!

 **NA:** ….Nori-kun?

 **HO:** Oh! Do you not like being called that?

 **NA:** No, I don't mind... just the first time anyone's called me that. But, anyway, what's Mementos?

 **FS:** Basically, it was this creepy-as-butts underground hell subway that was the Palace of everyone's hearts. We used to ride around inside of Morgana's bus form beating up Shadows.

 **NA:** …

 **NA:** Y'know, some days I think I've finally made sense of this phantom thief stuff, and I am always proven wrong....

 **NA:** So, why do you bring up Mementos?

 **AT:** Well, now that we're stuck waiting around for Hirose to confess to his deeds, we might as well check out Mementos.

 **RS:** Not a bad idea. We probably need to train up...'specially seeing how weak just two months without our Personas made us.

 **NA:** Sure, you guys can show me Mementos. Let me take care of some things first.

 

 

On the way into Yongen-Jaya, Noritaka stopped by the Velvet Room. He leaned on the witness stand as he appeared in the blue courtroom. “Hey Igor, hey Lavenza.” he said casually. “Just swinging by to retrieve Diabolik.”

 

Igor chuckled. “You seem to be adjusting to life as a Trickster quickly.” he said.

“Oh, no, it's still really weird.” said Noritaka. “I'm just good at acting like I know what I'm doing- I am a firm believer in the idea 'fake it till you make it'.”

 

And for the first time since the Velvet Room opened its doors, Igor didn't just chuckle- he laughed, a deep belly laugh that made him hold his hands to his stomach and turn his head upward. Igor wiped a tear from his eye when he finished laughing. “You are indeed an unusual guest...” said Igor.

 

As Diabolik returned to Noritaka's soul, Noritaka wondered if Igor was laughing at him or at something else...

 

–

 

The Phantom Thieves gathered in the Yongen-Jaya subway station, preparing to enter Mementos. “OK, so I just input 'Mementos'?” Noritaka asked as he opened the MetaNav. He entered the keyword...

 

...and something peculiar happened.

 

“Invalid destination.” chirped the application. “Re-routing...”

 

“Wait, what does it mean by 're-routing'?” asked Ryuji, sounding panicked. But before anyone could propose a theory, the world seemed to distort. However, instead of spittimg them out at the subway, they seemed to be at the Sky Tower.

More accurately, what had _replaced_ the Sky Tower.

Casting a massive shadow over a darkened and distorted version of Tokyo filled with listless cognitive existences stood a sinister-looking skyscraper of impossible height and chaotic design. There were segments of brutalist architecture, art deco, art nouveau, Bauhaus, Gothic, neoclassical, post modern, Spanish Colonial, futurist, shoin-zukuri, Rococo...it was as if a thousand architects had taken turns drafting segments of the world's largest skyscraper without looking at what the others were doing, leading to a deranged combination of styles from around the world and across history. The only way in was a massive iron door.

 

“Rerouting successful.” said the MetaNav. “You have now arrived at the Tower of Babel.”

 

“Babel?” repeated Makoto.

“A tower that climbs up so high it touches Heaven...” muttered Yusuke. “God saw what they had done, and to stop them he confused their languages, isolating them from one another. At least, that's how the story goes. But why would it replace Mementos?”

 

“Who knows?” responded Ryuji. “We should probably look inside to find out.”

The Phantom Thieves opened the iron door into the Tower of Babel. Inside, they were greeted with a large room styled after a Roman amphitheater with a spiral staircase going up. Off to the side was a strange platform that reminded Noritaka of a dance game from an arcade. Noritaka looked up the stairs but couldn't see where they went from the ground floor. “Hey, Oracle, can you tell how many floors this tower has?” asked Noritaka.

 

“Sure, gimme a sec.” answered Futaba, summoning Necronomicon. After a moment of scanning, Futaba had an answer. “Including the floor we're on, there are...”

 

She paused. “...Are you kidding me?”

 

“What is it, Oracle?” asked Haru.

 

“...There's six hundred and sixty-six floors in here.” Futaba said in a tone of voice that usually accompanied an exasperated 'get a load of that guy' eye roll.

“Whatever made this tower really went all in with the 'creepy hell tower' design.” she said sarcastically. “Ooooh, it's the evil devil number! Surely, this will terrify people and totally not make it seem try-hard edgy.”

 

“...that's a hell of a climb.” said Ryuji, not getting what Futaba was talking about. “Yeah, you could say that...” said Noritaka. “And we might as well start climbing. Skull, Panther, Queen, we're taking point. Fox, Noir, you're on the back row in case anything tries to sneak up on us. Let's do this!”

 

As the phantom thieves got in formation, Ryuji turned to Ann and whispered: “Does he think we're gonna climb this whole tower in one day?” Ann shrugged.

 

When they reached the top of the stairs, they found that the stairway ended there. “It seems that we will need to find another stairway to progress.” said Yusuke. “How annoying...”

 

“What's 'Lebanah'?” asked Ann.

 

“Lebanah?” asked Makoto. “Do you mean 'Lebanon'?”

 

“No, Lebanah.” said Ann, pointing to a sign hanging from the ceiling. It looked like a sign one would see denoting an exit in a public place or an airport, and it read: “FIRST SPHERE, LEBANAH, THE INCONSTANT.”

 

“First Sphere? Doesn't look spherical to me.” said Futaba.

 

“Doesn't matter what shape it's in, we gotta keep climbing.” said Noritaka, leading them deeper into the floor. As he spoke, a Shadow cluster in the form of a lion rounded a corner and noticed the thieves. It roared and charged at the group, bursting into a cluster of Pyro Jacks and Pixies.

 

“Look alive!” ordered Noritaka, drawing his knife and charging the Shadows with reckless abandon. He grinned as he shanked a Pixie and immediately followed it up by summoning Diabolik to rip apart a Pyro Jack.

 

“Yo, Scarlet's got the right idea!” whooped Ryuji, swinging his lead pipe with great enthusiasm. “Hey, slow down!” shouted Makoto as she charged at the group of Shadows on Joanna.

 

The living darkness that comprised Diabolik seemed to envelop a Pixie as he attacked it, smothering it to death in between its claws.

 

After a brief skirmish, the Shadows had been wiped out. Noritaka pulled his mask up to wipe sweat off of his forehead. “Phew, that was intense...” he panted. “Anyone need healing?”

 

Noritaka switched from Diabolik to Pixie as Ryuji and Ann raised their hands. The sprite held her arms out and the two were bathed in healing auras.

 

The Phantom Thieves continued up the Tower, battling more Shadows as they went. Noritaka picked up a new Persona called Jack Frost, but couldn't hold anymore, much to his dismay. It was on the fifth floor that they found a large glass tube that could hold at least ten people. Inside the tube was a large red button labeled 'RETURN'.

 

“What the heck is that?” asked Ann.

 

“Seems to be some sort of teleporter,” Futaba said as she consulted some readouts from Necronomicon. “At least we've got checkpoints to save our progress...”

 

“Speaking of which, we should probably call it for the day.” said Noritaka, walking into the tube. He waited until everyone was in the tube before hitting the button. Space seemed to warp and melt around them before they found themselves standing on the strange platform they saw on the ground floor.

 

Noritaka yawned as he stepped off the platform. “Damn, I'm exhausted.” he said.

 

“The ascent of the Tower did seem to drain us as we climbed.” remarked Yusuke. “Perhaps we can only climb so far everyday...”

 

Ryuji looked worried. “Wait, but we got exhausted after four floors...six hundred and sixty-six divided by four....”

 

Noritaka could've swore that he could hear the wheels in Ryuji's head turning and grinding. “One

hundred and sixty-six point five.” he said.

Ryuji turned on his heel, giving Noritaka a look of indignation. “HEY! I could have gotten it eventually!” protested Ryuji. “But still, 166 days? That's just insane...and that's assuming there's gonna be checkpoints every four floors.”

 

“I think we just need to get used to climbing the Tower.” remarked Makoto. “I don't know why, but the atmosphere in here is way more oppressive than it was in Mementos...like the air itself is trying to weigh us down.”

 

Noritaka shrugged. “I'unno, I wasn't around for that so I'll defer to your judgment on that.” he said to Makoto.

 

The thieves left the Metaverse and went home- save for Noritaka, who took the subway to Untouchable. Arriving a mere 10 minutes before closing time, he strode into the store.

 

“How much for custom orders?” asked Noritaka. Iwai looked up from the model he was cleaning with an anti-static spray. “Well, it depends on what you're asking for...” said Iwai, not looking up from his task. “The level of detailing, raw material, and the time it takes to make the weapon...what did you have in mind?”

 

“Well, how many movie replicas have you made?” asked Noritaka. Iwai gave Noritaka the faintest smirk. “I've done a few replicas...this for a cosplay?” he asked, knowing full well what it was really for.

 

“You could say that...” said Noritaka. “I need two items.”

 

Noritaka pulled out his phone and showed it to Iwai. “I want a replica of Bond's Walther PPK and Dundee's bowie knife.”

 

Iwai quirked an eyebrow. “That's an...eclectic pairing of props, kid. Are you gonna want a silencer for that gun?” Nortiaka smiled. “If you've got the time.” he replied. His eyes wandered up to the shelves when something caught his eye.

 

“I didn't know they made airsoft grenades...” remarked Noritaka. Iwai followed the young man's gaze up to the items in question. “Oh, those? Yeah, just got them in yesterday from another shop in Osaka.” said Iwai. “Nifty little things...you load 'em up with some gas and BB pellets, then just throw it like a grenade and they'll spit out their payload on impact.”

 

 _Or blow up like a real grenade in the Metaverse,_ thought Noritaka. “Cool.” he said. “Do they make smoke bombs?”

 

“No, no smoke bombs.” said Iwai, putting the gun he was cleaning down and taking a seat. “And trust me, those airsoft grenades cost a pretty penny.”

 

“Just give me an estimate on the models, and I'll buy one airsoft grenade to test it out.” said Noritaka, pulling out his wallet. Iwai stood back up reluctantly, pulling the item off the shelf as Noritaka counted out the money. “Lemme do some number crunchin' and I'll be out with your estimate.” said Iwai, walking into a backroom. When he came out, he handed Noritaka a slip of paper. Noritaka took a look at the projected cost and winced. He was going to need to find a job to fund his thievery- an ironic situation to be in.

 

But as Iwai took the money and put the box containing the airsoft grenade in a plastic shopping bag, Noritaka noticed something scrawled in tiny handwriting on the back: ' _granulated sugar + potassium nitrate: look it up_ '

 

Noritaka grinned as he pocketed the slip of paper. “Thanks you.” he said as he walked out the store, intent on doing some research when he got home.

 

After hours watching videos that all came with 'do not try this at home' disclaimers on his phone, Noritaka immediately decided he should try it in the Tower of Babel. It took him some time to figure out where he was going to find potassium nitrate, but once he found a source of that he managed to order the components he needed online. When that was done, Noritaka found himself going down a rabbit hole of weird devices of dubious legality made at home- most of them were useless to him as a Phantom Thief, but he paid close attention to the videos about making lockpicks out of wire.

 

 _They're probably not very effective in the real world,_ thought Noritaka. _But I guess if I believe it'll work in the Metaverse, my cognition will make it work._

 

Eizan wasn't at home, so Noritaka had time to work when the express-shipped components arrived. He took a hot plate and a frying pan out to the rooftop of the apartment building, and before he began making the smoke bombs, he sent a message to the group chat.

 

 **NA:** So uh

 **NA:** If my house blows up, it was for you guys.

 **RS:** wHAT ARE YOU DOING

 **NA:** Making smoke bombs

 **FS:** oh god taka's gonna die

 **NA:** Geez guys, calm down, it's a joke.

 **NA:** I think I know what I'm doing.

 **FS:** famous last words

 **YK:** Asano-san, are you certain you know what you're doing?

 **NA:** I'm positive, I just watched a bunch of videos online to make sure I did it right

 **FS:** omfg he's gonna fukken set himself on fire

 **FS:** someone please stop him

 

Noritaka set the phone aside as the Phantom Thieves went into various states of panic in the group chat. He began the process of making the smoke bombs, mixing the stump remover and sugar. When the smoke bomb mixture was finished, he began the process of assembling the smoke bombs by pouring the mixture into squares of tinfoil and putting a cotton yarn 'fuse' in the mixture before it hardened, wrapping the tinfoil up around the mix as it hardened.

 

He loaded up the finished smoke bombs into a shoebox- except for one.

 

 

 **NA:** So you want to watch me light one of these things

 **RS:** holy shit he's still alive

 **RS:** futaba owes me 500 yen.

 **FS:** dammit

 **NA:**...were you guys really making bets on me blowing myself up.

 **FS:** well, the night's still young

 **FS:** might as well light it off.

 **RS:** if he dies now, it doesn't count

 **FS:** dammit

 

Noritaka rolled his eyes and set his phone up to record the lighting of the bomb. He took out a cheap cigarette lighter and lit the fuse before lobbing it, making sure to get close to the door leading back down into the apartment building in case he had to make a break for it. The smoke bomb's fuse hissed and sizzled until the flame touched the mixture inside. It slowly began to smoke, but rapidly the smoke clouds grew denser and denser until there was enough to completely obscure someone's escape, with a short flame shooting up from the bomb.

 

Noritaka grinned as he went back downstairs with the ingredients and tools he used. He then sent the video to the group chat.

 

 **RS:** holy SHIT

 **YK:** That is a most impressive device, Asano-san. But how do you plan to implement it?

 **NA:** It'll be useful for escaping from fights that go bad.

 

Noritaka hid the smoke bombs under his bed and went to sleep. When he woke up, it was a Sunday morning- and Noritaka needed to find a part time job....

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a late update, I got waylaid and had to put this on the backburner.

Noritaka walked out of Eizan’s apartment early on Sunday morning- a part of a ritual that he kept alive even after his father's incarceration. He was checking a list of what was playing on his phone when a car pulled up next to him. At first, Noritaka ignored it, but when the car door opened, the driver that got out was looking right at him: a statuesque woman with silver hair and reddish-brown eyes that struck Noritaka as vaguely familiar. 

 

“Noritaka Asano?” the woman asked. Noritaka stopped walking and turned to talk to her. “Can I help you?” he asked, hoping this wouldn’t take long.

 

“My name is Sae Niijima, you’ve met my younger sister.” said the woman.

 

Sae had to suppress a smirk as she watched the color drain from Noritaka’s face. “Ah, crap.” said Noritaka. “What do you want from me?”

 

“...We can’t discuss this here.” said Sae. “Would you mind stepping into the car?”

 

“I’d rather not, but alright.” relented Noritaka. It wasn’t the first time he’d been asked to step into a car by someone he didn’t know- it started when the cops came to arrest to his father, and continued he was moved from orphanage to foster home back to orphanage. Noritaka got into the passenger seat. 

 

“So you’re Kurusu-kun’s so-called ‘replacement’?” asked Sae, getting into the car. 

“Yeah, that’s what everyone tells me.” said Noritaka.  “Kinda weird that everyone’s comparing to a guy I’ve never met. May I ask the point of this conversation?”

 

Sae sighed. “I wanted to warn you that the investigation into the Phantom Thieves has been reopened.”

 

Noritaka felt like a lead ball had been dropped into his stomach. If the police was going back to chasing the Phantom Thieves, they’d immediately know about their return when Hirose’s change of heart took place. 

 

“So why come to me?” asked Noritaka. “I’m the new guy, you should be warning the others.”

 

Sae closed her eyes. “In truth, I wanted to get a read of you. Given your background, I was-”

 

Noritaka stiffened. “Worried I’m gonna rip off the other Phantom Thieves? Rob your sister?” he asked angrily.

 

Sae furrowed her brow with frustration. “Your case worker highlighted some troubling behavioral patterns you exhibited while in foster care.”

 

Noritaka glowered. “Some kids messed with me, so I messed with them back. I only did it to make them leave me alone.” he said. “Funny how my case worker left out the fact that the kids beat the tar outta me and the people running that hellhole did nothing to stop it.”

 

Sae felt shock followed by a twinge of guilt. She had no idea that there was more to the story. She looked at Noritaka, and in his eyes she saw anger born from hurt. “I had no idea…” she said quietly.

 

“Yeah, I figured.” Noritaka said bitterly. His shoulders slumped as he turned his gaze away from Sae, out the passenger window. “Can you let me out here? I’ve got somewhere to be today.”

 

Sae looked at the dashboard like it would give her a solution to a problem she couldn’t solve and sighed, pulling off to the curbside and stopping the car. “I’m sorry to dig up old wounds…” she said. Noritaka didn’t even look at her. “So am I.” he said icily before getting out of the car. 

 

Noritaka walked away and a vision of an inverted card depicting an angel with a trumpet looking down on a man, a woman, and a skeleton appeared in his mind.

 

_ I am thou. Thou art I. Thou hast shunned a new vow that cannot be made until reconciliation has been made. _

 

Sae drove away with an uneasy feeling. When she interrogated Akira, there was a cockiness that disguised a genuinely caring person. While Noritaka did show some concern for the other Phantom Thieves, there was a cold, hardened interior at his core. Sae hoped that the Phantom Thieves could reach him before they fell apart. 

 

Sae’s phone buzzed as she got a text. She saw the name ‘Hirose’ and immediately knew all hell was about to break loose.

 

\--

 

On the TV in Cafe LeBlanc, Sojiro and Futaba watched as Hirose confessed to sexually harassing university students and silencing his victims with threats of violence or expulsion.

 

“Damn, that guy’s a real piece of garbage.” Sojiro said gruffly as he poured a cup of coffee. Unbeknownst to him, a man in a dark suit and sunglasses was watching the TV with great interest. He stood up, left a tip, and walked out, pulling out a cellphone. Opening a group chat, he typed out a message.   
  


 

SH: We have a problem. Turn on the news.

 

He kept walking as he waited for other members of the chat group to respond.

KH: The Phantom Thieves? I thought our benefactor told us they wouldn’t be a problem.

SH: What do we do?

MT: The plan remains unchanged. 

MT: They do not know about our existence, and we can quickly get the upper hand should they become a threat. 

MT: Do not panic. Panic leads to mistakes, and mistakes are something we can’t afford.

  
  


The man pocketed his phone and boarded a subway train. Idle chatter about the return of the Phantom Thieves droned like white noise in the background as he sat down, white noise that he filtered out. He did not care for the braying of sheep 

 

Why care for the braying of sheep when you were about to live among the wolves?

 

The man smiled to himself. He just had to be patient.


End file.
